The IIHS this week has released rankings of cars based on how often their drivers die in accidents and how often the driver in a car they hit dies. The agency says the numbers “are a useful companion to the Institute’s safety ratings, as they capture different aspects of risk.” But no one figure can precisely tell you which cars are safest.
For instance, drivers of the Mitsubishi Mirage proved more likely to die in an accident than drivers of any other car. The Mirage is one of America’s least-expensive new cars. It’s tiny — a subcompact car available as a sedan or a hatchback. The 2020 version lacked advanced safety features like automatic emergency braking (though the Mirage on dealer lots today does have that technology).
