Drive There Safely

There are several aspects of driving somewhere safely: How You Drive, When & Where You Drive, and What You Drive. How You Drive covers your driving behaviors. When & Where You Drive addresses your timing and route choice. And finally, What You Drive is about your choice of vehicle.

How You Drive

The safest behavior is to wear your seat belt.

The most dangerous driving behaviors are Driving While Distracted and Driving While Tired.

Distractions can be from many things: kids, changing a CD, talking on a cell phone, eating, reading, typing, putting on make-up, ...

According to a study called "How Good Drivers Get Killed", done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the most driver deaths occur because of head-on collissions, and the majority of those are caused by distracted or sleepy drivers.

When & Where You Drive

In general, major highways are safer than side roads.

According to a study called "How Good Drivers Get Killed", done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 86% of fatalities occured on side roads, and only 14% on major highways.

What You Drive

In general, the heavier the vehicle, the safer it is. And, in general, the lower the center of gravity of the vehicle, the safer it is. Thus your safest vehicle is generally heavy, with a low center of gravity.

Big luxury cars ("boats") come to mind, like a big Cadillac.

According to a study called "Driver Deaths by make and model: Fatality risk in one vehicle versus another", done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the five safest recent cars are:

Chevrolet Astro minivan
Infiniti G35 mid-size luxury car
BMW 7 series very large luxury car
Toyota 4Runner mid-size 4WD SUV
Audi A4/S4 Quattro mid-size 4dr car

And the five most dangerous recent cars are:

Chevrolet Blazer 2dr mid-size 2WD SUV
Acura RSX small 2dr car
Nissan 350Z mid-size sports car
Kia Spectra hatchback small 4dr car
Pontiac Sunfire small 2dr car

There are many tradeoffs in choosing a car, even in choosing your method of transportation. The site is not called "safe cars", or something like that, since the real point is to get where you want to go safely. How you get there is up to you and involves many choices.

I can imagine investigating time of day, driving behavior, type of road, in fact, endless factors the can help or hinder your arriving safely.

So, the first thing I did was to Google "safest car". The list of resources begins. In the paid ads section, there were these:

All The Safest Cars
www.edmunds.com

Top 10 Safest Cars
WomenCarBuying.com

Top 10 Safest Cars
www.Autoweb.com

Volvo Cars & Safety
www.BayArea-VolvoDealers.com
This one somewhat confirms the common perception that Volvo is designed for safety. Well, at least it confirms that Volvo is buying these ads to cash in on that common perception. It will be interesting to check out their actual ratings.

Best Car
www.ConsumerReports.com
This one was expected. Consumer Reports is one of the most trusted sources and rates everything.

Safe Kia Vehicles
www.kia.com
My initial reaction is this is a marketing ploy. Kia does not spring to mind as a safe car, but maybe they want people to start thinking it is. We'll see what the data says.

Safest Car
www.Autobytel.com

Safest Car
www.AutoSite.com

And then, of course, are the natural search results:

25 safest cars on the road - MSN MoneyDaniel Pund, associate editor for Car and Driver magazine, says there's no such thing as a totally safe car. "Because of legislation and because of ... moneycentral.msn.com/content/Insurance/P63955.asp - 29k - Cached - Similar pages IIHS Crash Test ResultsTop Safety Pick 2007 award. Large car. Audi A6. Midsize cars. Audi A4 · Saab 9-3 · Subaru Legacy with optional electronic stability control. Minivans ... www.iihs.org/ratings/ - 23k - Cached - Similar pages Are Smaller Cars as Safe as Large Cars?But you also want to be safe. What do you do? You choose the safest car you can afford that also provides good gas mileage. Here are a few factors to help ... www.edmunds.com/ownership/safety/articles/106748/article.html - 34k - Cached - Similar pages The Safest Cars 2005 - Forbes.comMaking safe cars instead of flashy ones might be too boring to make business ... Mercury's Grand Marquis and the Lincoln Town Car . The safest cars don't ... www.forbes.com/vehicles/2005/09/09/safestcars-acura-ford-cx_dl_0912feat_ls.html - 50k - Cached - Similar pages Choose a safe new car with Insure.com's S.A.F.E. Car ProgramAuto insurance is the term used to describe sale of a contract to an individual seeking to protect their vehicle in the event of an accident or mishap, ... info.insure.com/auto/safecars/ - Similar pages Insurance Institute: Ten safest cars - Dec. 5, 2005Among small cars, only the Honda Civic earned a Gold award, the only car in its ... vehicles are any less safe than the Institute's top-rated vehicles. ... money.cnn.com/2005/12/04/Autos/iihs_top_safety/index.htm - 45k - Cached - Similar pages NHTSA: New Car Assessment ProgramNHTSA crash rating results; also known as Stars Ratings. www.nhtsa.dot.gov/NCAP/ - 84k - Cached - Similar pages The safest family car, a holistic approach | BayosphereWhile I’m waiting for the car companies to create my dream, holistically safe car, I have a plan. I happen to own both a four-cylinder Accord and a ... bayosphere.com/node/624 - 49k - Cached - Similar pages The Safest Car You Can BuySide-curtain air-bags, stability control, all-wheel drive: The range of extras available on a new car can be overwhelming. Our guide will help you figure ... www.parents.com/parents/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/parents/story/data/5635.xml - 30k - Cached - Similar pages Consumer Reports Guides Parents To Safest Car-Seat Choices: CR ...Consumer Reports Guides Parents to Safest Car-Seat Choices: CR tests show some LATCH-equipped car seats difficult to install ... www.consumersunion.org/products/car-seat403.htm - 16k - Cached - Similar pages
There are, of course, a whole array of terms that can be searched on. Here are some of the ones I've thought of: ...

Sites that evaluate cars:

Edmunds.com
www.edmunds.com
Edmunds.com positions itself as follows: "Edmunds.com provides True Market Value® pricing, unbiased car reviews, ratings, and expert advice to help you get a fair deal."
But they drop you on their home page and give you no guidance where to find information about safe cars.
I looked in their "Research Cars" section of the homepage and clicked on "All Buying Guides", hoping there would be a safety oriented one in there. But there's nothing in there.
There's no way to search their site.
Ah ha! Down further, under the not-so-descriptive "More on Edmunds.com" is set of Consumer Advice Guides, with a link to Car Safety Guide. Now that sounds like what I want.

Safety Guides

Car Safety Guide on Edmunds.com.
"How Good Drivers Get Killed"

Car Safety Links

NHTSA's Traffic Safety Site
SaferCar.gov
The Center for Auto Safety
DaimlerChrysler's Road Ready Teens
TeenDriving.com
AARP Senior Driver Safety
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Senior Driver Web site
Informed for Life

Traffic Safety Equipment

Cones
Cones from The Traffic Safety Store
Collapsible Cones
Collapsible Cones from The Traffic Safety Store

Places That Sell Traffic Safety Equipment

The Traffic Safety Store

Studies "Driver Deaths by make and model: Fatality risk in one vehicle versus another"

Organizations Related to Safe Driving

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Their mission is to "save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes."

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Behaviors

Things you can do to be more safe:
Wear your seat belt.

Things that can happen to you

Ejection from the vehicle
One of the most injurious events that can happen to a person in a crash.
In fatal crashes during 2004, of the people wearing seatbelts, only 1 in 100 were ejected from the vehicle, while of those not wearing seatbelts, 29 in 100 were ejected.
Lesson: Wear your seatbelt to help prevent ejection from the vehicle.
Source: Occupant Protection, Traffic Safety Fact Sheet, 2004 Data

Common Location | Get There Safely