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Is Your Auto Fully Loaded… with Safety Features?
There's a lot to consider when you're buying a car: color, style, horsepower, auto
insurance—and maybe something you haven't thought about—vehicle safety ratings.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA) and other safety authorities run
crash tests every year to determine how well vehicles protect occupants in frontal
and side collisions. Vehicle weight and safety features determine safety ratings.
Your car's safety report card is a good indicator of how it will perform in an
accident, which in turn, is a good indicator of how much you can save when you buy
your auto insurance coverage.
Size (and Weight) Matters
Vehicles are crash tested based on new structural and safety features, weight class,
and sales volume. Although safety features are a very important factor,
your vehicle's weight can also play a role in your accident survival rate.
The NHTSA reports that even with the same safety equipment, heavier vehicles
fare better in accidents with lighter vehicles. Bigger is not better, but it
can be an advantage in a two-car collision.
Vehicle weight aside, your vehicle's safety features can protect you from
injury or death, and from higher auto insurance rates.
Safety: Airbags and Head Protection
According to the NHTSA, air bags have saved over 10,000 lives, as of January
1, 2003. Side airbags also make a huge impact in saving lives. The Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety reported in 2003 that deaths have been reduced by 45%
in driver-side collisions when side airbags and head protection were present.
Don't forget that air bags are not effective without the use of seat belts. Seat
belts prove their worth by saving lives. According to the Department of Transportation,
seat belts saved nearly 15,000 lives in 2003.
Don't underestimate the importance of proper head restraints and seatback position. Used
together effectively, they can reduce whiplash and injury in an accident. Good news for
new model car buyers: head restraints have improved in 2003 passenger vehicle models by
45%.
The results are in…vehicle safety features could save your life.
Your Vehicle's Safety Rating—a Matter of Life or Death
Researchers for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that vehicle safety ratings
can determine life or death for drivers. Drivers of highly safety rated vehicles have 74%
less fatalities than poorly rated vehicles while vehicles that are rated "average” have 45%
less fatalities than poorly rated ones.
What Does All This Mean?
A higher purchase price due to safety features is often offset by lower auto insurance rates.
And if you're involved in an accident, you can't put a price tag on your life. Auto insurance
premiums aside, the safety of you and your passengers should always be paramount. Spending a
few hundred dollars more on side air bags will seem like a bargain if you can walk away
unharmed after a serious crash.
In addition to providing safety tips for you in our auto insurance learning center, we offer auto
insurance discounts for some factory-installed safety features. If you haven't already, see which auto
insurance discounts might apply to you and get your auto insurance quote today.
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