Small Cars Potentially Compromise Safety

There are many advantages to driving a small car. On average, smaller cars tend to get better gas mileage than larger trucks and SUVs. They are also easy to maintain, and the ease of parking a small car and maneuvering it through tight roads is a definite plus.

However, there are some issues that might steer people away from choosing a smaller car such as safety.

Researchers for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) took data from 2012 through 2015, and according to CBS News, found that traffic deaths seem to be on the rise in recent years. It seems as though the stronger economy is encouraging people to travel more often, leading to traffic accidents. They found that drivers of mini and small-sized cars are among the top victims of these deaths which has resulted in some concerns among those driving smaller cars.

Many of the cars at the top of the IIHS list of vehicles that caused the most driver deaths from 2012 through 2015 were of the mini or small variety. Cars such as the Hyundai Accent sedan and Kia Rio sedan resulted in high death rates. However, larger vehicles such as the Dodge Challenger and Nissan Titan Crew Cab also landed on the list.

There are many tradeoffs that come with driving a small vehicle versus a large vehicle. Although mass rules and physics does play a vital role when it comes to the outcome of an accident, all cars have advantages and disadvantages.

For example, a smaller car weighs less but because of that likely gets better MPGs. Larger cars weigh more and because of that may be safer, but they often get lower MPGs. If you spend a lot of time commuting, you might prefer a small car with good gas mileage. If you have a family, you might prefer a larger car with more seating.

Car companies are making safety a high priority when manufacturing cars of all sizes but safety-related technology can only do so much in the event of an accident. There is a limited amount of things that can be done to make a small car safe when it is involved with a collision with a larger object, and mass does rule in the end.

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