The Car Brand Involved in the Most Fatal Accidents

We all want our cars to be as safe as possible. While obviously, we can control how we ourselves drive, cars vary quite a bit in their safety—and it’s something you may not be able to easily quantify. The car manufacturers themselves are certainly not going to advertise, “We’re less safe!” But thanks to AutoInsurance.org, we’ve been able to find data revealing which car manufacturer has vehicles involved in the most fatal accidents—a statistic you certainly don’t want your car to have!

Which car manufacturer has the most fatal accidents?

The auto make involved in the most fatal crashes was Ford. Over three years, Ford accounted for 21,262 fatal crashes, or 17 percent of all crashes in the data. Among those, the model involved in the most fatal crashes was the Ford F-150, with 4,427. Ford is not the car brand with the worst reputation in America, though.

How was the study conducted?

AutoInsurance.org looked at data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to determine which auto makes were involved in the highest percentage of fatal crashes. They assessed the U.S. totals over a three-year period (the most recent data was 2017–2019), and broke them down by vehicle manufacturer.

Other makes with high percentages

Second on the list was Chevrolet, with 20,435 fatal crashes. Toyota was in third place, but with a much lower number (12,918). Honda and Dodge were the fourth and fifth, respectively.

Of course, this can’t be purely chalked up to vehicle safety. As the study points out, the cars at the top of the list have “generally a high number of owners.” That’s why they also adjusted the data to account for vehicle popularity and shared a separate chart that showed how many fatal crashes nine out of the top ten manufacturers had per 1,000 vehicles sold. Dodge had by far the most, with 7.28. Find out the least reliable car in the industry.

Which car makes are the safest?

The study didn’t quantify safety the way they did for fatal accidents, but the authors did seek to provide some insight on which car brands are the safest. “Volvos, Audis, and Genesis are known for producing safe cars with numerous safety features, including those that are cutting edge or brand new,” they concluded. Unsurprisingly, none of those were in the top ten for fatalities.

There are other factors that play a role in car safety, beyond just manufacturer. The study also touched on the car color least likely to be involved in crashes: white, generally because of how much white cars stand out from their surroundings. (But they didn’t reveal the car color most likely to be involved in an accident.)

Next, check out 10 cars you should buy used—and 5 you definitely shouldn’t.

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