The Deadliest Cars

The Deadliest Cars

With auto manufacturer's focus on safety coupled with advances in technology, it's not a stretch to say that we're much safer in modern vehicles than older models. Still, when looking back there are a shocking number of vehicles that have made the list of history's most deadly cars that have been produced recently. After looking into some of the unsettling statistics, it was hard for me not to look around Port Angeles or any city in WA for that matter for some of the vehicles on this list.  Here are a few of the most prolific offenders we've found at Wilder Toyota Auto Repair Service.

The Nissan Versa has two models on the list. Both the hatchback and the sedan seem prone to deadly accidents, with the sedan model the worse of the two. For no reason in particular it's the most susceptible to rollovers.

The Kia Rio may have the highest death rate of any recent vehicle, but for overall numbers across time the award goes to the Chevy Corvette. For a performance sports car, this may not be surprising, but its juxtaposition to the Kia Rio is. Their similar spots on the list may be due to very different reasons though. The propensity of drivers is to speed with the Corvette. The main failing of the Rio is its lack of bulk. With either, though, accidents are particularly dangerous.

The Ford Pinto makes the list for one reason: a design flaw made a rear-end collision turn the Pinto into a fireball. To make matters worse, Ford found that settling wrongful death suits was less expensive than issuing a recall to fix the issue. 

The next one on the list came as no surprise to me. I had a Chevy Aveo, and I know first hand how dangerous it could be, especially in inclimate weather conditions. Strangely, all of the deaths in the station wagon came from multi-car accidents. Not a single fatality was reported in one-one-one accidents. 

The last one on the list is another that I'm acquainted with. My uncle collected Yugos for some unknown reason. Maybe he found them to be a novelty? A wise investment? Either way, they were well known for being pieces of junk. Sure they were cheap, but any part could go out at any time, and when a part failed on a Yugo, it failed epically. 

Thankfully, most of the cars on the list are no longer manufactured. The lessons we learned from them have proven useful though and have led to some innovative safety advances. Sometimes progress can only be made through hard experiences.

Written By: Todd Hendrickson
Source: grunge.com