There are plenty of vehicles on the roads, but did you know that some are safer than others? It’s not just safety ratings themselves that play a role. The size of a vehicle, as well as other factors, play a role in how seriously someone could be hurt if they end up in a crash.
In an interesting piece of data collection, the most dangerous vehicles on the roads were complied. Interestingly, they were all smaller cars or sport coupes, which may not be surprising if you consider how much smaller these vehicles are compared to others on the road. Even with all else being equal, smaller and lighter vehicles are not as protective as the larger counterparts.
The most dangerous subcompact vehicle turned out to be the Mitsubishi Mirage, and it was closely followed by the Chevrolet Corvette. They had fatal accident rates of 10.2 and 9.8 cars per billion miles. The average among all vehicles? 2.6.
Although SUVs have a fatal accident rate up to 34% lower than the average overall, they also have models with high incidences of fatal accidents. Topping the list for SUVs was the Kia Sportage, which has a fatality rate of 3.8 cars per billion vehicle miles.
What does all this mean for you? It means that you need to be cautious when you choose what to drive on the roads. It’s clear that small vehicles are at a disadvantage, so if you can choose a larger model, you’ll actually be taking steps to keep yourself safer in the case of a collision in the future.
Regardless of the vehicle you choose, fatal and serious crashes are possible, but choosing a safer vehicle can help protect you.
