<p>It has been a couple of years, but when I was looking for a car for my new teenage driver, I made sure to get one with electronic stability control (ESC) as well as the anti-lock brakes, side airbags and other safety bells and whistles. At the time, we chose the Mazda 3 (which is also a great handling car) as having the best safety features and really the only one of its class to have the ESC (I think we had to get the “touring” edition for that feature). We only leased it for the two years he was finishing high school (doesn’t need a car in college), but it was a great car. I would look at it again for when he graduates college and needs a car.</p>