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Are midsize cars among the most dangerous?

On Behalf of | Aug 25, 2022 | Car Accidents

Buying a new vehicle is a significant decision. In addition to choosing a car that fits your personality, there are many other factors to consider.

Ideally, you want a vehicle that suits your lifestyle and is safe for you and your loved ones. As you start looking, you will quickly discover dramatic differences between vehicles.

Here’s what you should know about the recent side crash test data with midsize cars.

Updates to the side crash test

Safety engineers looked at some of the earlier crash tests and made changes so the tests would be more likely to reflect real-world crashes. Since crashes often involve pickup trucks and SUVs, designers created a test to simulate the damage and injuries that could come with a crash where a truck hits the driver’s side of a midsize sedan.

Researchers compared these results with the results of small and midsize SUVs to see what differences they could detect. In most cases, the midsize sedans did not perform as well as their SUV counterparts.

What went wrong?

The challenge with a crash between an SUV and a midsize car is that midsize cars sit lower to the ground. When there is a side impact, the people in the midsize vehicle often receive direct injuries.

In most tests, midsize cars showed significant damage to the structure and safety cage of the vehicle. Damage to the safety cage directly impacts the severity of the injuries to people in the car.

Shopping for a midsize vehicle

Midsize vehicles are convenient because they carry a reasonable number of passengers while still getting good gas mileage.

When shopping for a vehicle in this category, look at the safety ratings to know which cars are more vulnerable and which perform well in a crash.

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