Every year the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports the findings of their tests and announces their top Safest Pick Awards for vehicles. In order to be selected as a “Gold Top Safety Pick,” by the IIHS, a vehicle must earn a top rating when tested by the Institute for side, front and rear impact. This year, however only cars with Electronic Stability Control were tested and considered.
Forbes Magazine has also released a list for model year 2007 cars, but their list points out the least safe vehicles. There has been quite an uproar on the Internet about the Forbes list of the 7-Least safe autos and the same press release seems to be spammed all over the Internet. It seems to be important for the automakers and those with a stake in the auto market to point out that the cars on the list are not necessarily unsafe, but instead are not as safe as other cars available.
Forbes used three main factors to create the list of least safe vehicles:
- A vehicle’s accident-avoidance features.
- Results of crash tests, conducted in controlled environments (including those done by IIHS).
- Real-world data, in the rates of injury claims filed with insurance companies for each vehicle.
Automakers have objected to how Forbes ranked these cars due to the complex method they used to decide which would make the list. Automakers point out that some of the worse scoring cars, such as Suzuki’s Forenza, are on the list even though other cars, like the Kia’s Rio and General Motors’ Aveo aren’t, because the IIHS has never tested them or issued crash-test scores. The fact is that not every car on the market has a been tested by IIHS for safety ratings. The IIHS doesn’t test all models, and can’t issue crash-protection ratings. Automakers also point out that injury-claim reports are constantly being updated
Forbes reported they were surprised the list was entirely small passenger cars, and said, “We expected to see at least one SUV on the roster. But a section on the Highway Loss Data Institutes’s (HLDI) Web site explains why the list looks the way it does: small two- and four-door cars typically have higher death rates and higher-than-average insurance injury claims”
To read the complete method Forbes used to rank the 7-least safe vehicles click here.
Forbes Magazine’s least safe 2007 models in no particular order:
- Toyota Corolla sedan without optional airbags
- Chevrolet Cobalt sedan without optional airbags
- Ford Focus sedan
- Mazda3 sedan
- Suzuki Aerio sedan with side airbags
- Suzuki Forenza sedan with side airbags
- Saturn Ion
Related Blogs:
- Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top 13-Safest Pick Awards
- How to Get an Accurate Auto Insurance Quote
- Auto Insurance Policies 101: Medical Insurance & Personal Injury Protection
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