Caution: Compact cars have safety issues

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is an independent committee bent on testing the various cars for safety. They recently conducted a small overlap front test which basically tests the happenings when the car’s front corner collides with a firm barrier (e.g. a tree) at 40 mph. This special way of testing evades the crash-absorbing configurations on the car’s front thus making it prone to damage easily. In this way, a ‘Good’ rating is hard to achieve.

The test included 12 cars including Mini Countryman, Chevy Volt, Ford C-Max Hybrid, Mitsubishi Lancer, Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ, Scion xB, Hyundai Veloster, Fiat 500L, Nissan Juke, Mazda 5 and Nissan Leaf. Amongst these 12 cars, Mini, surprisingly, was the only vehicle which earned a “Good” rating while the Mazda 5 had the worst rating of all. Moreover, the Chevy Volt earned the Top Safety Pick+ due to its safety systems like automatic brakes and collision warning while the Countryman earned the second the best as it doesn’t include the aforementioned safety systems.

So, next time, when you plan on buying a small car, keep these safety tests in mind.