NO CUTTING CORNERS IN CAR SAFETY

Vehicular accidents remain to be the leading cause of fatalities and injuries in the United States and in several other countries around the world.  In 2007, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) registered a staggering 41,059 deaths and 2.49 million serious injuries resulting from car accidents.  Anyone buying a car whether as a first car, a student car, or a family car, should consider a car’s safety features before actually buying it.

Luckily, there is a US government agency tasked specifically to test and ensure the safety of any vehicle manufactured and marketed in the country.  The NHTSA as well as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) are the agencies responsible for crash testing new vehicles.  You should look for a five or a four-star crash test rating from the NHTSA and at least an “Acceptable” rating from the IIHS before buying a car.  All cars manufactured in the past few decades come already equipped with the basic safety equipment as seat belts and airbags.  In recent years, manufacturers have included other equipment such as side-impact bags, rear parking sensors, side curtain airbags, and anti lock braking systems (ABS) in their cars to protect its passengers from accidents either caused by them or by others.

When buying a car, it is to your best interest to look carefully at the Consumer Information Label that contains ratings for passenger and driver frontal crash testing, front and rear side crash testing, and rollover testing.  These ratings are important considerations for you to check out when buying a car.  Other recent developments have led to the inclusion of several other equipment to make driving and riding in a car a lot safer.