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How To Buy a Safe Vehicle for Your Family
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HOW TO BUY A SAFE VEHICLE

When buying a vehicle, new or used, it’s  important to make sure it’ll be safe for everyone – the kids in the back and the adults in the front. Deciding which vehicle to buy can be overwhelming, but here are some must-have safety features to help narrow down your list. In my opinion, these 4 are the non-negotiables (i.e. if the vehicle doesn’t have it, I wouldn’t buy it).

After the must-have safety features, we discuss the available crash test ratings – those by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety as well as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

MUST HAVE SAFETY FEATURES

1. Electronic Stabilization Control (ESC)

All vehicles in the US since the 2012 model year are required to have ESC.  For those buying a used vehicle, many older models have ESC. The safety benefits of ESC are so tremendous that it should be a non-negotiable.

Like most, you’ve probably never heard of this technology – but it is expected to save more lives than the invention of the seat belt as it PREVENTS crashes from happening in the first place! This 90-second video does a fantastic job explaining and showing how ESC works. If all vehicles were equipped with ESC, as many as 10,000 fatal crashes could be avoided each year in the US.  ESC cuts in half the risk of a fatal single-vehicle crash by helping drivers maintain control on curves and slippery roads.

ESC systems are marketed under various names, including dynamic stability control, vehicle stability control, dynamic stability and traction control, among others.

Click here for a great explanation of ESC and how it works.

Click here to see if a new or used vehicle has ESC.  This database goes back as far as 1996.

2. Side-Impact Airbags (SABs) that offer head AND chest protection to the front AND back seat passengers

Side curtain airbags offer head protection for all 3 rows. Chest side airbags offer chest protection just to those in the 1st and 2nd rows.

Unlike ESC, SABs aren’t specifically mandated, but nearly all manufacturers now include them as standard equipment (at least for the driver & front passenger) in order to meet federal side protection requirements. Side airbags that protect the head reduce a car driver’s risk of death in driver-side crashes by 37 percent and an SUV driver’s risk by 52 percent. This searchable database lets you find if the vehicle you are looking to buy, whether new or used, offers SABs as standard or optional equipment.  This database also shows whether the SABs offer head and chest protection, and to which rows of seats this protection extends.  For example, in an SUV with a 3rd row, it may have head and chest protection SABs for the front seat, just head protection SABs for the 2nd row, and no SABs at all for the 3rd row (making the 3rd row not the best place for your kids… even though you were buying the vehicle to put kids back there).

Are side airbags safe for kids? Short answer: yes.  Click here for lots more info.

There are three main types of SABs: chest (torso) SABs, head SABs, and head/chest (combo) SABs.

3. Crash Avoidance & Mitigation Technology

Crash avoidance technologies do just what it sounds like they do – they try and prevent a crash from occurring in the first place and when preventing the crash is not possible, try and lessen its severity. There are many different types of crash avoidance & mitigation technologies, as there are many different reasons why vehicles get into crashes. For a fantastic explanation of each of the following crash avoidance technologies, please click here.

Crash Avoidance & Mitigation Technologies

The technologies in red are the ones that have already been shown in the real world, as opposed to just a crash test lab, to reduce crash rates.  The ideal vehicle would have all of the technologies above… but you aren’t likely to find all of these technologies in one vehicle (yet). Therefore, in selecting a vehicle, we suggest prioritizing the following 3 as being non-negotiables – ESC, forward collision avoidance WITH autonomous braking, and back over prevention – with adaptive headlights and adaptive cruise control being very close runners-up.

Why the focus on back over prevention?  Children and the elderly (who slip & fall and can’t be seen as a vehicle is backing up) are the most likely to be injured in a back over accident. These are truly accidents as they’re preventable – and backover prevention, using video displays can show a driver what is behind the car that would otherwise be invisible.

To see which crash avoidance features are available by make, model, and year see this comprehensive searchable database.

4. Adequate trunk/cargo space

The child on the right in this 3rd row is at significant risk of the stroller flying on top of them in a crash.

Cargo in the passenger area just isn’t safe.  Things (objects, people, etc) become very heavy in a crash – they will weigh their usual weight TIMES the G’s in the crash (G’s being the force of gravity).  A 30mph crash may have 20-25G’s.  For example, a 10 lb baby in a 20G crash will weigh approximately 200 pounds!  Unrestrained people and objects will fly around in a crash – becoming missiles that can injure the other people in the car.  Make sure you have enough trunk space so that cargo stays out of the passenger area.  If buying a vehicle with a 3rd row, it is ideal to keep the third row up (as if people were riding in the 3rd row) to act as a barrier between the cargo and the kids in the 2nd row.  If you are planning to put someone in the 3rd row it is NOT SAFE to have part of the 3rd row folded down, as this makes it such that the person in the 3rd row is in essence riding in the trunk and all the cargo you have next to them can fly on top of them in a crash. Note: many SUVs with a 3rd row will have insufficient trunk space for even everyday use, like groceries and strollers, when the 3rd row is being used. For those needing to use the 3rd row for seating, a minivan will offer much more cargo space than an SUV typically.

5. Sufficient size & weight

Size matters when it comes to vehicles. We’re not suggesting you buy the biggest, heaviest, behemoth of a vehicle you can find… but realize that smaller, lighter vehicles generally offer less protection than larger, heavier ones because there is less structure to absorb crash energy, making deaths and injuries more likely.  When struck by heavier vehicles, people in lighter vehicles also experience higher crash forces.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “If safety is a major consideration, pass up very small, light vehicles.” The IIHS is quick to add that this doesn’t mean that drivers have to choose the heaviest vehicles on the road to get good protection.  Crash tests show that midsize cars afford a lot more protection than minicars from the same manufacturer.  For example, the 2014 Chevrolet Spark (2,300 pounds – a minicar) and the 2014 Kia Optima (3,300 pounds – a midsize car) are both IIHS Top Safety Picks; the Optima would likely be safer than the Spark given its extra weight and size.  It would NOT be recommended to buy a vehicle with a lower safety rating simply for its increased size – look for sufficient size AND safety ratings.  For more about this topic, click here and here. Crash testing of the 2014 mini cars shows that they typically perform poorly in the frontal offset crash test – a test that mimics a significant number of real world crashes that cause injury.

5. Adequate Head Restraints in ALL Positions

With the IIHS factoring in head restraint design and performance into their ratings, vehicle manufacturers have stepped up their game… but they often neglect the back seat as IIHS only evaluates the front seat head restraints.  Whiplash costs the US $8 Billion a year… because while it doesn’t kill people it does cause chronic, often lifelong, pain that debilitates.  Head restraints are most effective when they do both of the following: 1. Come up to at least the top of the person’s ears (ideally they would come up to the top of the head) and 2. The distance between the back of the person’s head and the head rest is less than 4 inches (the greater the distance, the more you throw your head back).  If you plan on having kids or adults riding in the back seat of your vehicle, make sure that EVERY position has an adequate head restraint.

CRASH TEST RATINGS

Two separate organizations – one governmental (NHTSA – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and one independent (IIHS – Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) offer crash test ratings for new and older vehicles.  Both the IIHS & NHTSA evaluate the crashworthiness of the vehicle – how well the vehicle will protect its occupants in a crash. While both the IIHS & NHTSA are now focusing attention on crash avoidance and mitigation technologies that can prevent a crash or lessen its severity – the IIHS has been more proactive by factoring this technology into their most recent ratings (these technologies are not part of the current NHTSA 5 star ratings).  Other differences in the ratings: IIHS factors in head restraint and whiplash protection (NHTSA does not), NHTSA factors in rollover resistance (IIHS does not per se, although ESC was part of their ratings for many years before it became a standard feature, and ESC decreases the risk of a rollover).  There are other differences in the crash tests performed by the 2 different groups – see here for more info on the IIHS tests and here for the NHTSA tests.

New for 2013, the IIHS now offers 2 levels of recommended vehicles – Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick +.  To be a Top Safety Pick + in 2013 a vehicle must earn good ratings in the moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests; a good or acceptable rating in the small overlap front test; and a basic, advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention.  To be a Top Safety Pick in 2013, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, plus a good or acceptable rating in the small overlap front test.  Please note that criteria for the Top Safety Pick in previous years were different (they get more challenging almost every year).  To see a full list of current IIHS TSP & TSP+ winners in all size classes, click here; to see current winners by type/size, click here. To see winners from previous years, click here. For information on the 5-star ratings done by NHTSA, please click here.

Please keep in mind that some vehicles that were rated higher in previous years may be lower in subsequent years.  This does not mean that the older vehicle is unsafe.  Due to more vigorous testing and requirements to achieve a certain rating, a vehicle that once received an excellent rating may receive a lower score in a subsequent year even if no changes have been made to the model.  For example, the IIHS is consistently adding additional requirements to what is the minimum needed to earn a Top Safety Pick – with the goal of pushing the development and availability of additional safety features.

This organization – Informed for Life - aggregates the crash test ratings from the IIHS & NHTSA and adds in their own calculation as to how the weight of the vehicle will affect the crash performance.

Vehicle Ratings

   IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)

   NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

Still overwhelmed?  

We suggest scanning through the IIHS’s list of vehicles that make their Top Safety Pick +.  If you find a vehicle in that list that meets your families’ needs (budget, passenger capacity, fuel efficiency, etc)… go with it and enjoy your new car.  If you need some more options, take a look at those earning the Top Safety Pick.  Compare with NHTSA’s 5 star rating to get a fuller picture of the safety of the vehicle.  Please note, from our experience when it comes to crash avoidance technologies, the information on the NHTSA page may not be accurate as to what is available in that vehicle.  We recommend googling the vehicle and the specific crash avoidance technologies you are interested in to see which are available and which are not (since vehicle manufacturers love to give these technologies unique names, we found that just looking on the vehicle’s website was sometimes a confusing way of trying to figure out which technologies were offered.  We had more luck starting with a google search).