Minicar is prominent in IIHS’s list of Top 10 vehicles with the highest driver death rates; data shows “smallest vehicles are the most dangerous ones”
If you’re driving a minicar and you’re involved in an auto accident, you’re more likely to die than if you were driving an SUV or full-size vehicle.
For many people, this sad, but true, notion has been the conventional wisdom.
Yes, many people like to drive big SUVs because it’s fun, but many others drive these oversized behemoths because they believe that having all that metal and weight surrounding them will make them safer if they’re ever involved in a car accident.
And, it turns out they’re right.
According to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety called “Tiny vehicles, high death rates,” the IIHS reports:
- “[D]river death rates show that the smallest vehicles are the most dangerous ones. Among the 10 vehicles with the highest rates, five are minicars and three are small cars.”
- “Among vehicle categories, 4-door minicars have the highest overall death rate of 87, while 4-wheel-drive large luxury SUVs have the lowest with 6.”
The IIHS summed it up perfectly when it said:
“These vehicles don’t protect occupants as well as larger ones …”
Can you name a minicar with a high rate of driver deaths?
The “minicars” on the IIHS’s list of the top 10 vehicles with the “highest rates of driver deaths” are:
- Hyundai Accent
- Kia Rio
- Chevrolet Spark
- Nissan Versa
- Ford Fiesta
Other than the minicar, what small cars had high driver death rates?
The “small” cars on the IIHS’s top 10 vehicles with the highest driver death rates are:
- Scion tC
- Kia Soul
- Nissan Sentra
