What Factors Determine Safest Vehicles

When we go to buy a car, we want to make sure that we are going to be safe in case of an accident. Today’s cars have different safety features, some imposed by the government, and others added by the manufacturers themselves.

However, what factors should be taken into account to know how safe a car is? The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has set fairly strict protection standards, and is constantly updating the requirements necessary for a vehicle to qualify as a “top safety pick.”

Here are some of the factors that experts consider to determine how safe a vehicle will provide you.

• The weight of the vehicle. The heavier the vehicle, the better it will protect you during a crash. The IIHS conducts various crash tests to see how a car performs during an accident. In tests of small cars colliding with larger cars, the larger ones always emerged victorious, better protecting their occupants.
• Electronic stability control. Experts strongly recommend electronic stability control, especially in SUVs. This feature prevents the vehicle from skidding or skidding and keeps you under control when cornering. The IIHS claims that if all cars had electronic stability control, up to 10,000 lives would be saved each year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration now requires this feature to be standard on all new vehicles.
• Rollover resistance. The lower a vehicle’s center of gravity is, the better resistance it will have to rollovers. Taller cars, like SUVs and trucks, are more likely to roll over because their center of gravity is higher. According to the IIHS, SUVs have a rollover rate two to three times that of passenger cars.
• Airbags. Air bags have come a long way in recent years. This is currently a mandatory feature for all new vehicles. According to studies conducted by the IIHS, frontal airbags reduce driver fatalities in frontal crashes by 29%.

These are just a few factors that experts consider to determine how safe a vehicle can provide. We hope you find it useful, and if you are ever involved in a car accident, remember that you can contact us to help you!