Jan Baborák / Unsplash
Buying a first car is one of the riskier decisions a family can make. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that the fatal crash rate per mile driven for 16- and 17-year-olds is roughly three times higher than for drivers 20 and older. Inexperience is the dominant factor, but the vehicle itself matters too.
The challenge for parents is that "safe" and "affordable" don't always point to the same model. A heavy pickup truck might survive a crash well, but its size and long braking distances create new hazards for someone still gaining their bearings. A sports car might score high on safety tests, but the performance envelope invites the kind of behavior new drivers should be avoiding entirely. The sweet spot — what Consumer Reports and the IIHS describe as genuinely appropriate for teen drivers — is a vehicle that is heavy enough to hold up in a collision, nimble enough to handle emergency maneuvers, loaded with standard active safety technology, and priced within reach of a realistic family budget.
Consumer Reports and the IIHS have developed a joint framework specifically for this problem. To land on their recommended list, a car must earn Consumer Reports' top safety verdict rating, win a Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ from the IIHS, and come standard with automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind spot warning, and rear cross traffic warning. The vehicle must also weigh more than 2,750 pounds — light cars don't provide adequate protection in multi-vehicle crashes — and score well on Consumer Reports' emergency handling and braking evaluations. Vehicles with confusing or distracting controls are excluded.
