Play It Safe: Avoid These Autos

I know that auto insurance is much more expensive for fancy sports cars than it is for sub compacts. Part of this is because the speedsters cost insurance companies more to replace because of the scarcity or cost of some of the parts. Of course fast cars are more like to be used recklessly. Recently, I was looking at a list of SafeAuto's 12 Least Safe Automobiles and surprisingly there were only a few sports cars.

In fact, charting at number 11 is the 2009 Kia Rio. It looks like any other little foreign car, and protects the driver in the case of front end collisions. However, if the car is struck at any other angle, one site reports that its a "guaranteed trip to the ICU unit." Behind it was the 2009 Chevy Trailblazer, which is a relatively popular model. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if an SUV came with higher auto insurance for all of the risk taking drivers do, but I always thought they were safer for impact.

What car ranked the highest, or, should I say the lowest? The number one car on the list was the Ford Pinto. The Pinto? The legendary Yugo did make the list. The incident of the Yugo being blown off the Mackinac Bridge is the stuff urban legends are made of, but it was the Pinto and its spontaneous combustion when struck at low speeds and being able to avoid suspension bridges, apparently combustion won out. Or lost out. Depending on your point of view.