A New Car Is About Safety, Not Just Aesthetics

April 21, 2021

A safe car is a priority for all drivers, and most specifically families who use their car to take the children to and from school.

A safe car may seem like a big sturdy model that could crush any smaller car in its path, but there are additional features to look out for that go beyond just the size of the model. There are so many cars that we have probably fallen in love with over the years because of their style and aesthetic, Ferraris or Maseratis – but what about safety?

The 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is a secure car that boasts numerous benefits, so what are the key aspects to consider for your next purchase?

Newer cars are usually safer than old and cheap cars. Modern cars contain a greater abundance of safety accessories: airbags, braking aids, and more. Their structure design is also more advanced and they achieve better scores on crash tests. This rule has exceptions. Not every new car – even if it’s a 2003 model with zero miles on the clock is truly new. Sometimes the more important statistic is the year of birth of the car: the year in which the model was launched worldwide, or in short “model age”.

The Citroen Cassara, for example, launched in 1998, received a score of three stars and only 59% in the EuroNCAP crash test. In contrast, the Peugeot 307, launched in 2001, received four stars and 88% in this test. Interesting facts, right?

What other factors to consider?

A second factor that affects safety is the size and weight of the car. Larger and heavier cars will not better protect the occupants in the event of a self-accident, for example, a collision with a tree, but they may provide a crucial advantage in a collision with another car. In such a case, the light and small car will absorb a blow of much greater intensity. A study conducted in Finland in the early 1990s found that in a head-on collision between a car weighing less than 800 kg and a car weighing more than 1,200 kg, the risk of passengers in the small car being killed was 14 times greater than that of the heavy car. All of these rules have an exception called SUVs, or “Jeeps”. These cars, regardless of size and weight, usually provide inferior safety compared to passenger cars. Take note, because this information will serve you well when picking safety over aesthetics.

Safety features to consider

When looking at the safety features, you must see how many airbags that each car has and if they have central locking, child features etc. modern cars are really showing their savvy side, with exceptional technology to keep people as safe as possible; but this, of course, does come at a price. Here are just a few: