Five Least Safe Vehicles of The Decade

If you are going down the road and the accelerator on your Toyata gets stuck, the list of the top 5 unsafe vehicles of the decade may not be on your mind.  The more immediate concern when you find yourself in this situation is how to stop the car.   The time to worry about the safety of a vehicle is before you buy one. 

For all the problems with Toyatas and , they do not quite make the list of the top 5 unsafe vehicles. Topping the list is a Chinese motorcycle enclosed to be a car.  The Wildfire Motors 3-wheeled vehicle could be a safe and cheap alternative to a car provided its third wheel was in the back of the car rather than the front. The cheap scooters the company makes are what interests most Americans and the turn-overs for Wildfire enclosed motorcycles are not likely to be a problem any time soon.  They also cannot reach speeds of more than 45 miles per hour according to the catalog.

The number 5 least safe vehicle of the decade is unlikely to be bought by most people, even if if it may seem like a cool idea that the Chinese borrowed from American designers of the 50s.  There are far more important categories of dangerous cars to worry about.  These include cars that someone might actually buy.

Number 4 on the list of unsafe vehicles is the Buick Rendezvous. Older GM enthusiast may remember that older Cadillacs and Buicks felt safe. If the older Buick Electra 225s got into an accident, it was likely that the car would receive damage long before any of its passengers did.  The desire for Buick and Cadillac to venture into the sport utility vehicle market may be understandable, but it is not what they are good at. The Rendezvous features poor front impact control according to Forbes. The model eventually went the way of Tiger Wood’s career. (Who, incidentally, promoted the vehicle.)

Number 3 on the list of the most unsafe cars of the decade is the Nissan Frontier.  It offers stability control as optional, and achieves low scores in both front crash tests and rear crash tests. If the vehicle had a problem with the fuel tank, it may at least have made up for its poor performance for a few explosion gags in comedies. As it stands right now, only the early Ford Pintos have received this dubious honor.

Number 2 on the list of the most unsafe vehicles of the decade is the Toyota Yaris. The small car looks something like the original Volkswagen bug, and it gets extremely good gas mileage. What it can not handle is icy or slippery roads.  Passengers in an accident where the vehicle gets hit from the side can expect a greater risk of injury than head on collisions.  The best bet for a safe ride in this vehicle is to add seats to a trailer and hook the trailer up to it.  At least only the driver will suffer from any problems.

The earlier items on the list  have certainly earned a spot here, but what will make earn the top spot of most unsafe vehicles of the decade? It will have to be something special and preferably not a car at all.  Yet, a car most win it once the Ford Focus is considered.  The Focus, like many motorcycles or  scooters does not have a crumple zone to speak of, does not come with side air bags and generally offers cramped conditions to the driver. 

The fuel efficiency for the car can not be downplayed, but anyone who ever owned a Chevette in the 80s understands the problems of this car.  Why Ford decided that the Chevette needed a spiritual ancestors is a question that only the company’s engineers can answer.