SPOKANE, Wash. – When choosing a car for your teenage driver, parents need to consider a balance between cost and safety. That’s why Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety teamed up to create a list of new and used cars best suited for teen drivers.
“It’s almost like this Goldilocks of cars that are great for crash avoidance and crash protection,” said Jennifer Stockburger, the Director of Operations at Consumer Reports Auto Test Center.
Consumers Reports has created this list for the last five years. And it’s no surprise the cars on their list consider safety first, because data shows teens have crash rates nearly four times as high as older drivers.
“Those that not only help them avoid a crash,” explained Stockburger. “But ultimately will protect them in a crash should they get into one.”
Consumers Reports looked at performance tests for things like for braking, routing and emergency handling, and crash test scenarios.
“We’re even looking at the complicated controls in a car. The more complicated they are with all the screens and buttons, the more distracting they can be,” explained Stockburger.
The safest cars are obviously new cars, but Consumer Reports’ Good List has over 70 used cars you can buy for under $10,000.
“Things like the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, if you’re looking at the smallest,” revealed Stockburger. “But as you get larger, we’ve actually been able to include even mid-size SUVs, like the Ford Explorer, for example. And then ones you might expect, too, like the Subaru Forester is in there.”
What’s not on the list are sub-compact cars.
“Those smallest vehicles do have some compatibility issues in crashes with larger vehicles,” said Stockburger.
Really big SUVs and pickup trucks also did not make the list.
“Those vehicles tend to have much longer braking distances. They’re much more difficult to handle.”
But Stockburger is confident parents will find the list helpful when shopping for that first car.
“This is a great list for anybody that’s looking for a safe used car and has certain budget points to look under.”
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