What's the safest used car?
A new survey has revealed you don't need to spend big for safety, when buying a car.
Monash University's Accident Research Centre looked at the injuries sustained by people in car accidents from 1982 until 2009 and the models of car they were driving at the time.
In total, the injuries of over five million people were analysed.
South Australia's RAA (Royal Automobile Association) have used the findings to create a 'Safe Pick' rating out of five stars for the cars that are best at not only protecting the driver in a crash, but also cars that are less likely to injure for other road users.
"It’s a rating of real-life accidents and how those cars have performed in those accidents," RAA spokesman, Mark Borlace said.
"We rate them in a star system so that people who buy used cars can have a quick reference for what’s good and bad in the used car market from a safety point of view."
"Many of the safest cars in each market group are relatively affordable,"
"The two large vehicles that scored a Safe Pick rating were Australian-built, being the recent model Ford Falcon and Toyota Camry, which is a credit to those local manufacturers," Mr Borlace said.
Mr Borlace said that the ratings list is good for people buying cars on a budget, especially young drivers.
"Safety is probably down the shopping list for a lot of young people," he said.
"What we’re saying is if you have a look at the list, you should find something that suits the fashion-conscious, but also helps you to be safe."
So which one is the safest of them all?
Coming up trumps, all with five-star 'Safe Pick' ratings for the small car category, were the 2006 -2009 Honda Civic, the 2001 - 2007 Peugeot 307, the 1997- 2004 Volvo S40 and the 1999 - 2009 models of the Volkswagen Golf.
For medium cars, five star winners include the 2002 - 2007 Mazda 6, 2003 - 2007 Honda Accord and the 2003 - 2009 Subaru Liberty/Outback models.
And for four-wheel drives, 1991 - 2002 Landrover Discovery, 2000 - 2006 Mitsubishi Pajero, 2004 - 2009 Ford Territory and the 2002 - 2006 Honda CR-V are among the models scoring five star Safe Pick ratings.
