According to data from the United States Census Bureau, there were 10.8 million motor vehicle accidents in the United States in 2009. This number is 6 percent higher than the total number of accidents recorded in 2008 but lower than the amount of vehicle collisions during the years 2000 (13.4 million) and 1990 (11.5 million).
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There were 338,000 motor vehicle related deaths occurring within 30 days of an accident in 2009. These include both collision and non-collision accidents involving drivers, passengers, other vehicles, pedestrians, and fixed objects. Texas leads the country in traffic related fatalities from accidents with 30,000 deaths, while the District of Columbia had the fewest at 290.
The types of vehicles that were most likely to be involved in a motor vehicle accident, according to Census data, are passenger vehicles, utility trucks, and pickup trucks. Specific data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rates the following five vehicles as the most prone to accidents: Chevrolet Sonic, Chevrolet Cruze, Toyota Camry, Nissan Maxima, and Kia Soul. Each of these vehicles were selected based on their IIHS insurance loss ratings.
Chevrolet Sonic
According to IIHS ratings for the 2010-2012 model years, the Chevrolet Sonic receives ratings in excess of 100 (worse than average) in insurance loss arising from personal injury, medical payments, and bodily injury to drivers, passengers and others. The Sonic’s ratings of 134 for personal injury and 172 for medical payments makes the vehicle substantially worse than average when compared to other cars. Its ratings for collision and property damage are at or worse than average, making the vehicle one of the most dangerous cars on the road.
Chevrolet Cruze
Like the Sonic, the 2010-2012 Cruze has worse than average insurance loss ratings, including property damage (107), personal injury (121), medical payment (128), and bodily injury loss (124). It is also considered a marginal to poor safety risk by the IIHS in its crash test ratings.
Toyota Camry
The Toyota Camry comes with a 157 collision rating, a mark much worse than average, and an unusually poor score for a vehicle made by Toyota. The vehicle’s personal injury and medical payment loss ratings also come in substantially worse than average, at 133 and 141 respectively.
Nissan Maxima
The Nissan Maxima received insurance loss ratings that were worse than average as compared to similar vehicles of its class (at 145 and 147 respectively). Collision, property damage, and bodily injury ratings were poor as well.
Kia Soul
The insurance loss ratings for the Kia Soul were 134 for medical payment loss. For personal injury and bodily injury, the numbers are 115 and 105, both worse than average.
The Chevy Sonic and Cruze were deemed among the most accident prone cars among vehicles in the small four-door car category. The Nissan Maxima and Toyota Camry received some of the worst high safety concern and insurance loss ratings among midsize four-door cars. The Kia Soul is deemed by the IIHS as one of the most accident-prone small minivans on the market.
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Vinny Cunningham writes on car dealerships, car mechanics, car repair, the auto industry, car dealership software and other related subjects.