How Safe is Your Automobile?

The government has recently stepped up investigation into Chrysler LLC's Jeep Liberty SUVs after a number of reports from drivers who lost control of their vehicles. These SUVs are prone to their upper ball joint separating on either of the front wheels, resulting in loss of control if the front wheel collapses.

To date, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has received 22 complaints about this problem, which resulted in the government’s decision to upgrade their investigation of 300,000 of the 2002-2003 model year Jeeps Liberty vehicles to an engineering analysis. Chrysler has received 74 complaints about these vehicles, however no accidents or injuries has so far resulted from the problem.

This isn’t the first time that the Jeep Liberty model has had problems. According to NHTSA recall information on the SafeCar.gov website, the Jeep Liberty model has experienced similar recalls:

• In 2006, there were 826,687 recalls of 2002-2006 model years due to problems with the front lower ball joints
• In 2003, 336,000 2002-2003 vehicles were recalled for lubrication problems in the lower control arm ball joints

Finding a Safe Automobile

Jeep’s woes highlight the importance of carefully researching the vehicle you are about to buy. Since your safety and the safety of your family and friends depends on the quality of the automobile you chose to invest in, it is in your best interest to get all the information possible before selecting a new or used car.

There are a number of resources available on the web for learning about new or used cars. You can find information on safety ratings from NHTSA and IIHS, government recall information (which is especially important if purchasing a used vehicle), and you can use search engines to find information from newspaper articles and internet groups about the model you are interested in.

The 20 Most Dangerous Automobiles

Consider this: in 2007, Forbes published an article accompanied by a list of the 20 most dangerous automobiles. Forbes considered the advice of safety experts when compiling their list, and focused on the importance of side-impact protection, stability control and rollover risk. These are all 2007 models, and provide an insight into what is important in auto safety.

When safety equipment like side-impact airbags, curtain airbags, and stability control is optional, buyers should seriously consider purchasing these items in order to improve their chances of surviving an accident without serious injury. A number of these vehicles made it onto the most dangerous list below because they don’t include these important safety features as standard equipment.

1. Buick Rendezvous

· Poor NHTSA front-impact rating

2. Ford Ranger/Mazda B-Series

· Side airbags or curtain bags are not available

· Stability control is not available

· Poor NHTSA rollover rating, and among vehicles with the highest rollover risk factors

3. Nissan Frontier Extended-Cab Pickup

· Stability control is optional

· Poor NHTSA frontal crash test rating

· Poor IIHS rear-impact rating

· Side and curtain airbags are optional

4. Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner

· Poor IIHS rating

· No standard driver head and torso protection

· High risk of rollover

· No available stability control

5. Toyota Yaris

· Worse than average accident avoidance, according to Consumer Reports

· Poor performance in NHTSA side-crash tests

· Poor IIHS rating

6. Hyundai Accent

· Average accident avoidance, according to Consumer Reports

· Poor impact protection according to IIHS

· Among the lowest performers of all passenger vehicles in IIHS crash testing

· Low side-impact rating from NHTSA

7. Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe

· Average accident avoidance, according to Consumer Reports

· Low crash test ratings without optional side-impact protection

· Stability control is optional

8. Kia Rio

· Low NHTSA side-impact rating

· Poor side and rear-impact rating from IIHS

9. Chevrolet Aveo

· Average accident avoidance, according to Consumer Reports

· Low side-impact crash test rating from NHTSA for rear passengers

· Marginal side-impact crash rating from IIHS

10. Suzuki Reno/Forenza

· Poor side-impact crash test rating from IIHS

· No available side curtain airbags

· No available stability control

11. Ford Focus

· Poor side impact crash test rating from IIHS

· Low NHTSA crash test results, and a warning about the high likelihood of head trauma

· No available side curtain airbags

· No available stability control

· Seat-mounted side airbags are optional for front occupants

12. Jeep Liberty

· Low NHTSA rollover score

· Poor IIHS rear impact rating

· Marginal IIHS front impact rating

13. Dodge Dakota

· Acceptable front and rear impact rating

· No available stability control

· Side airbags and side-curtain bags are optional

14. Chevrolet Cobalt/Pontiac G5

· Poor IIHS side impact rating

· NHTSA claims higher than usual likelihood of serious head trauma in an accident

· Front-side airbags and side-curtain airbags are optional

· Stability control is not available.

15. Nissan Xterra

· Low NHTSA rollover rating

· Side and side-curtain airbags are optional

16. Saturn ION

· Low NHTSA rollover rating

· Poor IIHS side-impact rating

· Low NHTSA side-impact rating for front occupants