Is Your Car One of the 10 Most Accident-Prone Vehicles?
May 4, 2022
Parents planning to buy their teenager a first-ever car sometimes seek out a big, boxy sedan – or perhaps an older, slightly scuffed SUV– to keep their kids safe… while minimizing the financial damage that can happen when the inevitable fender bender occurs.
It just makes sense! We all know inexperienced drivers are more likely to become involved in auto accidents. Practice does make perfect, and that’s why, as drivers gain years behind the wheel, it’s likely their car insurance premiums will fall accordingly. But what about the vehicles themselves – are there some models that are more likely than others to become involved in accidents?
It seems to be the case. A number of experts have studied this topic, and we’re here to report that there are some striking similarities in their data, along with some other very surprising results. Because if you – like many of us – suspect muscle cars or sports cars would be the most likely accident culprits, you’d be only partially correct. That’s right – several unexpected models also make it on the top 10 list of most accident-prone vehicles on the road today.
Here’s our top-line analysis of the results, which will hopefully help you find a safe vehicle and avoid ending up in a crash (or worse, in court … or maybe even a casket) someday!
Three Key Takeaways to Help You Stay Safer on the Roads
Point 1: In each of the past two years, imports dominated the list of top 10 most accident-prone vehicles. (We’re Detroit proud, baby!) In 2021, not a single American car made the list, and in 2020 only the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited was among the 10 bad boys on the “naughty” car accident list. Point 2: Of the vehicles found to be the most accident-prone in both 2020 and 2021, the majority are sporty cars/SUVs. (The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and two Toyota Prius models being notable exceptions.) The message here is clear: Parents… don’t let your kids own hot rods! Point 3: There’s another surprising statistic that bears noting. While the models we name below appear to be most likely to be involved in accidents of all types (ranging from major crashes to minor dust-ups), we also took a close look at the Value Penguin list of vehicle makes that are most likely to be involved in fatal accidents. Surprisingly, some old, familiar names popped up when we checked accident fatality rates. As recently as three years ago, Oldsmobile, Mercury and Pontiac (all of which had long been discontinued,) were near the top of the list for cars with the most accident-related deaths. Only Porsche vehicles (where speeding was often a major fatal factor) were worse than these three old-school domestic makes. While we can’t pinpoint the exact cause of these vehicles’ placement on the fatality list, we do know they were all getting on in years by 2019 (when the most recent data was calculated). It’s distinctly possible that, because of their advancing age, they were less safe than newer cars, which are more likely to be equipped with state-of-the-art, enhanced safety features. Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty details you were waiting for, and show you …The Terrible 10 – America’s Most Accident-Prone Vehicles in 2020 and 2021
The information here comes to us courtesy of Insurify, which has compiled accident data from across the country to develop annual lists of cars most likely to crash. Here are their results from the past two years:The Worst Vehicles of 2021 (starting with the most accident-prone vehicle of the year)
- Scion FR-6
- Kia Stinger
- Subaru WRX (appears on the list both years)
- Hyundai Genesis Coupe
- Subaru Impreza (appears on the list both years)
- Infiniti Q60
- Mazda CX-3
- Toyota Prius V
- Lexus CT
- Hyundai Ioniq
The Worst Vehicles of 2020 (starting with the most accident-prone vehicle of the year)
- Infiniti Q50
- Subaru Crosstrek
- Subaru WRX
- Hyundai Elantra GT
- Subaru Impreza
- Toyota Prius C
- Honda HR-V
- Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
- Mazda 3
- Hyundai Veloster
Content checked by Mike Morse, personal injury attorney with Mike Morse Injury Law Firm. Mike Morse is the founder of Mike Morse Law Firm, the largest personal injury law firm in Michigan. Since being founded in 1995, Mike Morse Law Firm has grown to over 250 employees, served 100,000 clients, and collected more than $2 billion for victims of auto, truck and motorcycle accidents. The main office is in Southfield, MI but you can also find us in Detroit, Sterling Heights and many other locations.
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