The chance that you will be involved in a car accident at some point in your life is about 1 in 83. Recent figures put the number of accidents per year at over 6 million with about half of those resulting injuries. To put those odds in perspective – who doesn’t know someone that has been in a car accident? Give that the chances are fairly high that you will indeed be involved in an accident, it makes sense to do everything possible to protect yourself in the event you are the one in eighty-three. If you are in the market for a new car, it is worth the time to educate yourself with regard to vehicle safety ratings.

Every year, car companies constantly work to innovate and make their cars better and safer for the driver. While there are other companies/organizations that rate vehicles, The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (NIHS) is widely regarded as THE authority on vehicle safety. To determine crashworthiness — how well a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash — the Institute rates vehicles good, acceptable, marginal, or poor based on performance in high-speed front and side crash tests, a rollover test, plus evaluations of seat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries in rear impacts. To earn Top Safety Pick for 2010 a vehicle must have good ratings in all four Institute tests. In addition, the winning vehicles must offer electronic stability control.

According to the NIHS, for 2010 the safest car is the Buick LaCrosse for Large cars, Audi A3 (MidSize cars ), Honda Civic 4-door model (Small Cars).

A total of 8 SUVs and 19 cars earned the 2010 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick award for being the safest cars on the road today – down from 94 last year. This year, not a single convertible, pickup, minivan or large SUV earned a Top Safety Pick rating.

The 27 winners, by category, are:

Large cars

Buick LaCrosse

Ford Taurus

Lincoln MKS

Volvo S80

Midsize cars

Audi A3

Chevrolet Malibu built after October 2009

Chrysler Sebring 4-door with optional electronic stability control

Dodge Avenger with optional electronic stability control

Mercedes C class

Subaru Legacy

Subaru Outback

Volkswagen Jetta sedan

Volkswagen Passat sedan

Volvo C30

Small cars

Honda Civic 4-door models (except Si) with optional electronic stability control

Kia Soul

Nissan Cube

Subaru Impreza except WRX

Volkswagen Golf 4-door

Midsize SUVs

Dodge Journey

Subaru Tribeca

Volvo XC60

Volvo XC90

Small SUVs

Honda Element

Jeep Patriot with optional side torso airbags

Subaru Forester

Volkswagen Tiguan

Clearly, there is no guarantee that buying one of these vehicles will save your life, but if you have the option to purchase something that has been tested and proven to be safer, why wouldn’t you? With more people on the roads every day, the chances of an accident will continue to go up. Do your research before you buy. If you have any additional questions about vehicle accidents or injuries, feel free to contact the law offices of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or visit us at www.ledgerlaw.com