2006 Car Guide: A Source for Finding Safe Cars

July 13, 2006 - Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better or safer.

ERIE’s 2006 Car Guide and its “top 120” can help you choose a vehicle that fits your lifestyle, budget and efficiency standards without sacrificing safety.

Produced by Erie Insurance’s Product Development Department, the list ranges from lower mid-range and mid-range cars to station wagons, minivans and sport utility vehicles. Erie Insurance’s Rating Criteria include a variety of safety factors, including loss statistics and safety equipment.

“This year’s list includes 12 vehicle classes, one more than last year,” explains Sam Mancini, product development specialist. “The addition is the ‘crossover’ vehicle class that shares characteristics of SUVs and minivans and are hot in the auto industry.”

Information used to compile the list was provided by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and is available, by model year, to anyone through the Car Guide link under Safety and Consumer Info.

What’s safe in the guide?

Erie Insurance’s “safe” car list includes 2006 model vehicles and is based on safety and insurance value projections. Next to the model name is the approximate retail price.

Similar to previous years, the guide contains detailed information about safety equipment such as anti-lock brakes and air bags.

“The list is detailed,” says Mancini. “Many models only made the list when an optional side-impact air bag system is included on that particular car.”

To indicate these safety contingencies on the list, numbered footnotes advise readers which safety packages or manufacturers' codes the cars should have in order to qualify.

In addition to the approximate retail cost of a vehicle, the list has codes that indicate whether or not anti-lock brakes and side-impact airbags are standard (S), optional (O) or not available (N or N/A).

The models’ latest overall crashworthiness scores, as tested by the Highway Loss Data Institute, are rated as very good (VG), good (G), acceptable (A) and marginal (M).

No vehicles received “very good” or top ratings in the following classes:

• small sport utility vehicles
• mid-sized sport utility vehicles
• large sport utility vehicles
• crossover vehicles
• sport utility pickups.

According to Mancini, some models’ crash test data were not available. But if it was presumed to be average or better, it was marked N/A.

“The vehicles on Erie Insurance’s 2006 Car Guide have all met pretty tough standards,” says Mancini. “Safety should always be a priority when buying a car and this is a great tool to look at if you’re in the market.”