A recent study by the virtual insurance agent Insurify identified the ten car models associated with the most motor vehicle accidents. To arrive at its findings, Insurify looked at its database of “over 2.5 million car insurance applications.” When drivers apply for quotes via the website, according to its description, they enter information including their car’s model and whether they have been responsible for any motor vehicle accidents. Insurify’s researchers then compared “the number of car owners with a prior at-fault accident against the total number of drivers for each model to determine the proportion of drivers with an accident on record.”
Included in their data is each car’s safety ranking, as evaluated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, another insurance industry group. The IIHS Specifically evaluates safety by examining a car’s crashworthiness, or “how well a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash,” and its crash avoidance and mitigation technology, which “can prevent a crash or lessen its severity.”
Insurify’s blog post about the data stresses a noteworthy trend that’s taken place during the coronavirus pandemic: while overall traffic levels have declined, fatal motor vehicle accidents have increased by 14% compared to the same period in 2019, according to the National Safety Council. There are a number of reasons for this increase, such as a rise in reckless driving and driving under the influence, as well as higher average speeds (if not illegally high speeds).
According to Insurify, the following car models were associated with the most accidents, in descending order from highest accident rate to lowest: the Infiniti Q50; the Subaru Crosstrek; the Subaru WRX; the Hyundai Elantra GT; the Subaru Impreza; the Toyota Prius C; the Honda HR-V; the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited; the Mazda3; and the Hyundai Veloster. All of these cars have a IIHS safety rating of “Good,” except for the Toyota Prius C and the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, which have ratings of “Average” and “Marginal,” respectively. Insurify’s analysis of its data points out that six of these ten car models made its previous top ten list in 2019, and that most of the models “are marketed as relatively practical and affordable.” Five of them were selected by the IIHS for its 2020 list of “Top Safety Picks,” suggesting a silver lining to their accident-prone status: that is, that they’re build to “minimize damage and keep passengers as safe as possible.”
More information about each model, including the percentage of its drivers with prior at-fault accidents, is available via Insurify.
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