A new report identified 11 different car and SUV models in which no one died over a four year period. […]
A new report identified 11 different car and SUV models in which no one died over a four year period.
The report, from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, looks at federal government auto fatality data from 2012 through 2015.
These were the safest vehicles:
- Audi Q7 SUV
- Volkswagen (VLKAF) Tiguan two-wheel-drive SUV
- Toyota Tacoma Double Cab long bed four-wheel-drive pickup
- Mazda CX-9 two-wheel-drive SUV
- Audi A6 all-wheel-drive
- Jeep Cherokee all-wheel-drive SUV
- BMW 535 i and is
- BMW 535xi
- Lexus RX 350 two-wheel-drive SUV
- Lexus CT 200h
- Mercedes-Benz M-class SUV (called GLE-class in its current version)
You might notice that this list is heavy on SUVs, with few small or subcompact cars.
That’s really just a matter of physics. If two vehicles, both of which perform equally well in crash tests, meet each other in a real-world wreck, the occupants of the smaller, lighter vehicle will likely fare worse.
In fact, the cars with the highest death rates in that same four-year period are all very small cars. The top three with the highest death rates are the Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio and Toyota’s Scion tC.