<p>From the same iihs.org site, I find this insurance loss chart:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.iihs.org/brochures/ictl/ictl.html[/url]”>http://www.iihs.org/brochures/ictl/ictl.html</a></p>
<p>very illuminating to point out why one shouldn’t rely <em>exclusively</em> on these crash tests, as important as they are. Somewhere I have an article that basically says real world injury statistics comparing one model against the next can also tell you something important , the upshot being that you are usually (but not always) safer in the larger and heavier of two vehicles. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the most recent info for this is a few years old, but many of the small cars that got great crash ratings still do show a significantly higher rate of injury than the average (or are just average). Demographics of the driver can play some role for these injury stats, of course, but comparing two vehicles driven by the same type of driver is meaningful. </p>
<p>Side curtain airbags have also been shown to be extremely effective in preventing injuries and are highly recommended no matter what car you get.</p>