BETTER LIVING: Car Shopping + Safety Ratings
Friday, May 11, 2012
We all know safety is crucial, but how to apply those ratings when shopping for a new car? Photo: Joe Pugliese.
Safety Ratings can help you protect your most important passengers. The Safety Ratings determined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) include detailed reporting on the Child Safety rating of a tested vehicle. 20% of the US population is 12 years old or younger and NHTSA recommends these passengers sit in the rear seat of a vehicle. To keep your children as safe as possible when traveling by car, NHTSA also offers guidelines and safety points of a variety of child safety seats and how to properly install them in a vehicle. Always consider these recommendations before purchasing a vehicle.
Crash impact. NHTSA tests vehicles for both front and side impact crash ratings. The newest ratings system tests with varying sized crash dummies to represent both male and female occupants. The newest crash testing also looks at both side barrier and side pole impact, to determine accurate levels of safety for passengers in the types of crashes that most often cause death or serious injury.
Rollovers. Rollover accidents have the highest fatality rates of any type of car accident. The newest safety testing by NHTSA has an improved system for determining safety of passengers in a rollover type accident.
Taking the ratings for a test drive
To get a feel for what type of information the NHTSA safety ratings provides, I decided to check out the new Fiat 500 3 HB FWD. This cute little car is catching plenty of attention, but will it protect me in an accident? According to NHTSA, it depends on whether I am a man or a woman, as well as where I sit in the vehicle.
The Fiat 500 scored a full 5-star rating for safety for a male driver in a side impact crash, but only 4-stars for a frontal barrier crash. The odds are even worse for a female passenger, who, with only 3-stars in a frontal crash and just 2-stars when sitting in the back seat and involved in a side-barrier accident. According to NHTSA, 3-stars indicates that side crash injury risk for this vehicle is average to greater than average” and 2-stars suggest that “Side crash injury risk for this vehicle is greater than average.” The Fiat, model year 2012, did show a low-risk of rollover, at 14.5% and scored an overall rating of 3 of 5 stars. So, unless I am a 6’, 200 lb. man, who never plans to have a woman or child in the car, I may want to think twice on this little Fiat 500.
One stop on the Web
Because NHTSA is continually revising and updating its safety ratings and testing procedures, you can depend on the information provided to help you choose the safest possible vehicle for you and your family. The information is freely available at http://www.safercar.gov/ and should be one of the first tools you use to help you decide which vehicle to buy.
Before you spend tens of thousands of dollars on that new car, make sure you are going to love it. Most importantly, though, make sure your family will be as safe as possible in the event of an accident. You’ll never regret the decision to choose the safest vehicle you can, while still enjoying all the beauty and comfort of your new car.
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