Top 5 Safest Cars in the Market (Part 2)

2020 Nissan Maxima 4-door sedan

Nissan Maxima is a midsize car making its sales debut in 1981. Its premium features and a sleek line makes it look like a luxury sports car rather than a sedan. It was redesigned in 2016 after a one-year absence in the market. Several changes include the addition of a rear seat-mounted side torso airbags and knee airbags for both the driver and front passenger. The manufacturer also enlarged the frontal and side curtain airbags.

In terms of crash prevention vehicle-to-vehicle testing, Nissan Maxima has an overall evaluation of Superior which is the highest rating for this category. In the test, the vehicle was tested to determine how Nissan Maxima’s auto brake system avoid a crash or substantially reduce speed in tests at 12 mph and 25 mph.

Nissan Maxima also got Superior remarks in its vehicle-to-pedestrian tests which checks the automatic emergency braking system with pedestrian detection. The vehicle gives a warning time of 1.9 seconds before the impact.

2020 Mazda 3 4-door hatchback

Mazda 3 comes in two body styles: sedan and hatchback. Both have the same rating overall from IIHS and no matter which one you select, you’ll get a responsive braking and steering vehicle with a strong engine.

There was a time that the majority of vehicles were rated poorly when it comes to moderate overlap frontal tests. Nowadays, occupants’ compartments are much stronger than they used to be and consistently earn good ratings.

Mazda 3 hatchback and sedan both received a Good rating, which is the highest rating given by IIHS to vehicles in terms of frontal crash tests. In the tests, both variants passed the structure and safety cage assessment which measures how well the safety cage held up in case two vehicles with the same weight collide at 40mph. Mazda 3 also scored Good in Injury rating criteria which determine the likelihood of the driver and passenger receiving various types of injuries – head, chest, legs, neck, and feet – in other words, the risk of injury. A Good rating means that the driver is 46 percent less likely to die compared to a vehicle rated Poor in a frontal crash.

2020 Subaru Legacy 4-door sedan

This midsize car has been in the market since 1989. The Subaru Legacy has been redesigned for the 2020 model but still maintains its solid value for money being cheaper than Camry by $1,120. Subaru Legacy is also the most affordable vehicle available in the market to offer DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System which uses a camera to monitor the driver’s eye and head position and provide visual and audible warnings to help keep the driver’s focus on the road.

Subaru also added a driver’s knee airbag on the latest Legacy which brings its airbag total of eight. They have also added larger and faster airbags all around. This vehicle was given the Top Safety Pick+ rating by IIHS.