When was the last prison term you construe a new car – on video , at the dealership , on the internet – that had a one - whiz safety military rank ? Two stars ? Three ? It just does n’t take place . compositor’s case in stage : Of the 2,149 vehicles actually tested by the political science since 2011 , only 103 received a rating lower than four . Not a single model had just one star .
That does n’t intend every new auto is amazing and heavy . According to the authorities , three stars denotes average risk of injury . Not only is it statistically nonsensical for every vehicle to receive an above - average evaluation of four or five stars , it ’s supremely unhelpful for anyone really denounce for a railroad car . How do you love if it ’s lawfully the safest choice ? You do n’t . The unfortunate truth is that the government ’s car safety rating are pretty much bullshit .
New cars are safer than ever before. That doesn’t mean all new cars are equally safe.
These day , even the least safe railway car are , generally speaking , secure . Auto manufacturers selling cars in the US must see every car and hand truck meets minimum safety requirements – that ’s everything from the obvious clobber , like ass belt and mirrors , to specially treated glass that prevents shatter , crumple zone that mitigate the shock of a hit , and , honestly , too many other feature to heel . In a five - wiz system such as theNHTSA ’s NCAP(New Car Assessment Program ) , a safety evaluation of one does n’t intend the cable car is a decease yap – it just means you ’re more likely to be injured in a collision in that car , compared to another modern vehicle .
Yet the evaluation system does n’t actually convey that sort of need - to - live selective information . It ’s the equivalent of a schoolroom consist of all A and B students , with a couple of slacker C kids scraping by , and nary a D or F. Which sounds large in theory , with one very bigbut .
If every car is “above average,” what do those ratings even mean?
If five stars is the norm , is a three - whizz ranking , in fact , really bad ? It ’s an excellent question , and one the government activity postulate to be much more exculpated about when releasing paygrade . Otherwise , we might as well be order car as A ) in reality proficient , B ) Good So Long as You ’re Not in a Really Bad Accident , and C ) Chances of Getting Hurt in a Crash : ¯_(ツ)_/¯.
The ratings don’t include many of the crash-test results
Oftentimes , a car ’s safety rating does n’t give you the full picture of its clank - test results . The keen importance is placed on the guard of the dummy in the driver ’s seat , since the absolute majority of serious injuries or deaths pass off to drivers , but as a result , the ratings neglect to take into business relationship what ’s bump in other parts of the fomite .
Take , for example , the2017 Hyundai Accent . Four virtuoso for head-on hit , four for side impact , and four for rollover . I pulled up the real examination datum for the car , though , and the routine severalize a different write up solely for anyone in the rear seat . In three of the five areas measured , the dummy in the back would have corroborate injuries after being come upon by the left-hand rearward door , resulting in " gamey low spine speedup " and a higher prospect of thoracic injury . There was also a high " abdominal rib deflection " that the NCAP expressly tell was not included in the headliner rating .
Basically , anyone pose in the backseat would ’ve been send to the infirmary , but because the equipment driver would have been nothing more than jolly annoyed at his or her insurance company ’s choice in hold music , the car produce a four , which as we now sleep with , mean " better than average . " I do n’t mean to single out Hyundai here : This accurate same language is find in legion trial reports across various maker . To not include these results in the final ranking , however , is a vociferous glossing over of some of the most authoritative safety datum out there .
Courtesy of Ford
The current rankings don’t even include crash avoidance systems
The government is well - cognisant that a enceinte number of car today come withcrash avoidance systemslike parking brake braking , lane going warnings , and Autopilot . The NCAP even recommends that you buy cars with these systems . It does n’t quiz them , though .
Let ’s say your average 16 - year - old was cruise down the route taking#drivingselfieswhile intently look for for the approximate Pokémon . Which is safe – a car with a bunch of sensing element that go off when he or she drifts into another lane , or a car with no sensor ? Oh , that ’s right , they ’re both four wiz .
Another safety organization , the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ( IIHS),doesfactor those systems into its vehicle ratings , but it ’s just as ineffective . If a car performs well in a crash test and has any crash turning away system whatsoever , it get the coveted trophy of " Top Safety Pick . " But the only systems that the IIHS actuallytestsare automated braking feature – and if those mould as intended , the railway car is elevated to " Top Safety Pick+ . " That ’s it . No weight for a clang avoidance system goes beyond that , and there ’s no accounting system for car with superscript structures but no automatonlike braking .
YouTube/IIHS
You have to dig deep if you want to find the safest car for you
If you skip the ratings and go flat to the motorcar ’s examination resultant , there ’s actually a gross ton of data out there . If you ’re always run to have a passenger in the backseat , you could see for yourself how well that someone will fare in a bad liothyronine - bone collision . If you do a lot of driving at night , theIIHS recently start testing headlight effectivenessand found that most vehicle rank as " Poor , " and even fancy LED system be given to fare in at " Marginal . " you may see those resultshere .
Just , whatever you do , do n’t take the overall guard ratings at face value .
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Courtesy of Volvo
