Safest Sedans for 2024

What Defines a Safe Sedan?

Vehicle safety should be a primary consideration for every sedan buyer, but what defines a safe sedan?

iSeeCars uses the rating systems from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) as the basis for deriving an iSeeCars safety score for each sedan. These rating systems include NHTSA’s 5-star rating that tests a vehicle’s crashworthiness in a frontal crash, side impact crash, and rollover crash, plus the rollover risk for a given vehicle. IIHS’ rating system uses Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ to define safety, and is based on three crash tests that include frontal crash tests, side crash tests, and a roof strength test. IIHS also rates safety features like head restraints, front crash prevention technology, and headlight performance.

The safest cars will earn a 5-star rating from NHTSA and an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award, but iSeeCars doesn’t base its safety score on ratings from just a single model year. Instead we average a model’s safety ratings over five model years to come up with a 5-year average to determine a given model’s safety score. We also include a list of standard and optional safety features for each vehicle, including forward collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, and automatic high beams. These lists will vary by vehicle type, with large SUVs and luxury cars like BMW offering more standard features than economy cars like a Mazda 3 or Toyota Corolla. See a complete list of these safety technologies, along with an explanation of what they do, below.

How to Practice Vehicle Safety

New cars are safer than ever, but even today’s advanced safety systems can’t overcome unsafe driving habits. As advanced driver assist systems improve, drivers risk relying too heavily on them to overcome dangerous behavior, such as distracted driving or following a car too closely at elevated speeds. Studies have shown unrealistic expectations of these advanced driver-assist technologies have caused some drivers to neglect their own safe driving habits. But just as airbags and all-wheel drive improved vehicle safety when they were introduced years ago, today’s advanced driver system can’t shield occupants from irresponsible driving.

As the vehicle operator you’re the most important safety feature in your car. You can use the vehicle lists below to identify which sedans offer the highest safety scores, but you must always supplement those systems with safe and prudent driving practices, such as always wearing your seat belt, maintaining a safe distance from other vehicles, and remaining focused on the task of driving your vehicle responsibly.

Modern Safety Technology Terms and Definitions:

Automatic Emergency Braking: when forward sensors detect an imminent collision they can apply the brakes, even when the driver doesn’t, to assist with front crash prevention

Automatic High Beams: the vehicle can automatically switch between low beams and high beams when appropriate

Blind-Spot Monitor: alerts the driver when another vehicle is in the blind spot to reduce the chance of a collision during a lane change

Cross-Traffic Alert, Forward and Rear: sensors monitor the movement of vehicles passing in front of, or behind, a parked vehicle, alerting the driver to potential collisions; rear cross traffic alert is particularly help when backing out of a parking space with tall vehicles on the drivers and passenger side.

Driver Attention Monitoring: monitors driver behavior and creates an audible and visual warning if the driver shows signs of distraction or fatigue

Electronic stability control (ESC): Electronic stability control automatically applies the brakes when a vehicle skids or slides on slippery surfaces or curvy roads. This safety technology is so important that it has been required in most vehicles since 2012.

Forward (or Pre-) Collision Warning: alerts the driver of a potential or likely collision; this system often works with Automatic Emergency Braking to improve front crash prevention

Hill Descent Control: Uses the traction control and brake system to maintain a set speed as a vehicle descends an off-road or slippery surface while coming down a steep incline

Hill Start Assist (or Hill Hold): Maintains brake pressure to keep a vehicle from moving after the brake pedal is released and before the throttle is applied, making it easier to control a vehicle operating on a steep incline

Lane Centering: more advanced than Lake-Keeping Assist, Lane Centering uses small steering corrections to keep a vehicle centered in its lane

Lane Departure Warning: alerts the driver when the vehicle begins to drift out of its lane

Lane-Keeping Assist: monitors the vehicle’s position in its lane and makes steering corrections if a vehicle starts to drift out of its lane

Parking Sensors, Front and Rear: produces audible warnings when parking a vehicle to help the driver understand how close the vehicle is to a solid object (another car, wall, etc.)

Pedestrian Detection: uses sensors to detect pedestrians and can apply brakes to avoid collisions or reduce vehicle speed prior to collision

Radar Cruise Control (also known as Smart Cruise Control or Adaptive Cruise Control): uses sensors to maintain a set distance from vehicles traveling in front of the primary vehicle, thus reducing the need for driver input to maintain a set speed

Rear Seat Reminder: reminds the driver to check the rear seat area before exiting the vehicle and can sound the horn if rear-seat movement is detected after the vehicle is locked

Safe Exit Assist: monitors street traffic when a car is parked to reduce the likelihood of opening a door when another vehicle is approaching or passing by

Steering Assist: can steer the vehicle away from an imminent collision

Surround View (or 360-Degree) Camera: provides an overhead view of the vehicle in the infotainment system to see how much space is available on all sides when parking or moving at low speeds

Trailer Brake Controller: Integrates a trailer’s brake system with the tow vehicle’s brake system, automatically applying both when the driver applies the brakes

Trailer Sway Control: Applies brakes to individual wheels to slow a towing vehicle down when trailer instability is detected