How safe you are when an accident occurs is greatly affected by the car model you drive, as shown by Folksam's annual report "How safe is the car?". The most unsafe car models often have a lot in common. They are older, smaller, and often produced before crash tests gained significance in the mid-1990s.
But there are also new cars that only get three stars in the crash test, says Anders Kullgren about the test where five stars is the maximum.
The insurance giant's research chief further states that it doesn't have to cost much more to opt for a car model that is safe.
Electric cars are safe
The report, which has been conducted since the 1980s, examines the risk of death or permanent injury in actual accidents involving different car models. This year's report has assessed 499 car models based on over 200,000 real accidents between 2000 and 2024. An additional 739 car models are assessed based on crash test results.
Anders Kullgren notes that many electric cars have high safety ratings according to crash tests, but are not yet reflected in the statistics for actual accidents.
It sometimes takes many years before we get enough crashes to assess a car's safety. But you can see that for electric cars that have been around for a long time, like Tesla, it looks very good based on the data we have.
Larger weight differences
While cars have steadily become safer since the surveys began in the 1980s, there is concern that cars are becoming increasingly heavier, while older, lighter cars are still on the roads. The differences between the older, lightest cars and the new heaviest ones are constantly growing.
This could cause problems, that cars are getting heavier and heavier. But we haven't seen that yet, and we'll have to look further into it.
Sophie Gräsberg/TT
Facts: Models that received the rating "Good choice" this year
TT
The car models are listed in no particular order.
– Mercedes E-class 16-23 – Volvo S60/V60 10-18 – Volvo S60/V60 18- – Volvo S90/V90 16- – Volvo V40 12-19 – Volvo XC60 08-17 – VW Passat 15-24 – VW Tiguan 16-24 – Ford Tourneo Connect/Transit Connect 18-23
Source: Folksam's report "How safe is the car?".
