Safety on the Road Starts with the Right Equipment
As attorneys, we serve as trusted resources for our clients in various ways. From referrals to other professional advisors to fielding questions about the best schools in the area, we’re often expected to help our clients make decisions outside our specialties.
With that in mind, Marasco & Nesselbush is pleased to provide you with this list of the best and worst cars for rear-end collision safety. With technology, cars are getting safer and safer, so often, the differences between one car’s safety record and another’s are minuscule. However, the slight edge one has could be the difference between life and serious injury (or worse) in an accident.
Best Cars for Rear-End Safety
Rear-end collisions account for about seven percent of all traffic-related fatalities and nearly twenty percent of those fatalities involving two-vehicle collisions. The IIHS announced the release of its new “Rear-Impact” vehicle safety rating system. Most rear-end accidents happen in parking lots or at slow speeds, which don’t usually result in serious bodily injury or fatalities. However, even minor fender benders can be costly for the average person. The IIHS developed this rear-end crash prevention system to help consumers find the safest vehicles. There are three different ratings: superior, advanced, and basic.
Two vehicles earned the highest rating of superior:
Subaru Outback
WagonCadillac XT5
Four vehicles earned the advanced rating:
Jeep Cherokee
BMW 5 Series
Infiniti QX60 SUV
Toyota Prius Hatchback
This information was gathered from the IIHS tests and taken from https://mayolaw.com/iihs-rates-rear-crash-safety-systems-top-10-safe-cars/
Worst Cars for Rear-End Safety
When talking about rear-end collisions, typically, the person at fault is the driver who struck the vehicle in the rear. The factors that come into play during a rear-end collision mostly consist of the speed of the vehicle that struck the other vehicle, because the vehicle being struck is typically stopped or at a slow speed. With that said, five vehicles earned poor ratings for their ability to not protect from leg and foot injuries in the test.
With the criteria established, here are the vehicles with poor safety ratings:
Toyota Tundra
Nissan Frontier
Dodge Challenger
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Mitsubishi Mirage G4
Maintaining Your Vehicle
Whether your car is one of the best, one of the worst, or somewhere in between, car selection doesn’t matter as much if the car is poorly maintained. A delayed oil change, bald tires, off-kilter alignment, or other issues could spell disaster for even the best cars.
Drivers in Rhode Island are required to register their vehicles, which includes an emissions test every two years. During that emissions test, inspectors are looking to ensure each person’s vehicle is operating within State standards in nearly fifty areas, including brakes, dashboard alert systems, and windshield wipers. These vital pieces of the car must all work together –as intended –to ensure the car operates at its safest point.
Here is a checklist of car maintenance points to hit and when to optimize a car’s performance.
| ASAP | MONTHLY | 3,000 MILES | 5,000 MILES | SIX MONTHS | ANNUALLY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Check engine lights | Engine oil | Transmission fluid | Engine oil & filter | Chassis lubrication | Brakes |
| Tire pressure lights | Coolant/anti-freeze | Battery and cables | Tire rotation | Exteriors | Cabin air filter |
| Headlights and tail lights | Windshield wiper fluid | Belts | Wiper blades | Coolant/anti-freeze | |
| Wiper blades | Engine air filters | ||||
| Power steering fluid | |||||
| Tire pressure, condition & tread |
How Marasco & Nesselbush Can Help
If you are ever in an accident that is out of your control, you may need to hire an attorney. Marasco & Nesslebush consists of 15 award-winning attorneys with more than three hundred years of combined experience advocating for clients who have suffered life-altering injuries. Each case requires specific medical knowledge and an understanding of the difficulties those affected by the injury face. We know the complexities associated with proving the long-term impact that traumatic brain injuries and other serious injuries have on the lives of our clients and their loved ones.
Our 50+ person support staff of medical experts and legal professionals provides the resources necessary to enable our attorneys to support our clients through the most challenging cases. With over $100 million* recovered for our clients, we have a proven track record for resolving complex, serious injury cases while achieving extraordinary results.
*Cumulative recovery for Marasco & Nesselbush LLP clients since 1999.
