5 Reasons To Buy A Car With A 5-Star Safety Rating

Remember to find out which cars have 5-star safety ratings when you’re shopping for a new vehicle.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) tests models and ranks each vehicle according to how it performs. Five stars is the highest NHTSA rating. Other organizations also test the safety performance of cars, such as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

It’s easy to forget about safety and focus more on gas mileage and functionality, but you shouldn’t settle for any vehicle that has less than a 5-star safety rating.

Here are the top five reasons a 5-star safety rating is important:

1. Frontal Crashes Are Less Often Fatal

Modern vehicles with either a forward-collision warning system or an auto brake system help motorists avoid frontal crashes altogether. However, when frontal crashes do happen, drivers in higher-rated cars are 46 percent less likely to die compared to drivers of lower-rated vehicles, according to the IIHS. 

2. Your Head is Protected in Side Crashes

Vehicles with a 5-star safety rating usually contain side airbags. These are extremely important in a side crash. The IIHS concludes that drivers in vehicles with high ratings in the side-crash categories are 70 percent less likely to die if their vehicle is hit on the side.

3. Your Roof Is Less Likely to Collapse

When your car’s structure is sound, your roof is less likely to collapse. According to the NHTSA, even when seat belts are buckled at the time of the crash, a collapsing roof kills about 600 people and injures 900 every year. Make sure the roof strength rating is high before you buy.

4. Whiplash Risk is Reduced

Even the minor details matter when it comes to keeping you safe, and that includes the head restraints. Vehicles that scored highly on seat and head restraint tests by the IIHS can help reduce whiplash in an accident by 15 percent.

5. Rollovers Are Less Likely

If you’re buying a car that was made in 2012 or later, you’re probably going to get Electronic Stability Control (ESC) as a standard feature, and that’s a good thing. You will be safer driving in inclement weather and on curvy roads. drivers in higher-rated cars are 46 percent less likely to die.

Stauffer’s Towing is there for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week if you’re in an accident and need immediate tow service. Improve your odds of not needing a tow by choosing a car with a 5-star safety rating.