The Safest Cars Under $30K

May 26, 2008— -- Before you slap down your plastic for a car with anti-lock brakes, rear parking sensors and active head restraints, you'd better make sure it comes with electronic stability control.

Just like seat belts and air bags, ESC is a revolutionary safety feature. But instead of minimizing a driver's impact during a crash, ESC helps avoid it in the first place. It improves handling by detecting skids, then uses the car's braking system to realign errant wheels.

It's so important that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) required a vehicle to come equipped with ESC in order to be considered a 2008 Top Safety Pick. Among the under-$30,000 vehicles named this year: the Honda Accord EX-L Coupe, Kia Sedona EX, Hyundai Santa Fe GLS and the 2009 Subaru Forrester 2.5X.

Click here to learn more about safe cars under $30,000 at our partner site, Forbes.com.

"We've seen ESC reduce fatalities by as much as half in some instances," said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Virginia-based IIHS. "ESC is especially great at reducing the fatalities for single-car crashes."

Behind the List

The organization's picks were chosen from 2008 cars, minivans, SUVs and pickup trucks. Each vehicle underwent front-, side- and rear-crash tests, and injuries were measured on dummies in the driver's and back seats.

Front-impact crashes are the most commonly fatal accidents, followed by side-impact crashes. While mandatory to be an IIHS Top Pick, side air bags are a standard feature on 65% of vehicles. Rear-impact crash tests generally happen at much lower speeds, resulting in more fender benders than fatalities. Collisions at slow speeds can still be a pain in the neck, though. These accidents are notorious for causing whiplash and a host of other back problems.

Designed to mimic real-world crash conditions, the IIHS front-crash tests run at 40 miles per hour, side-impact tests at 31 miles per hour and rear-crash tests at 20 miles an hour. Tests are graded with either a good, acceptable, marginal or poor rating.

"Crashes don't really happen at 60 or 70 miles per hour," Rader says. "Usually there's just enough reaction time to slow down, but not much."

This year, 34 models made the list, most offering ESC as a standard feature. While luxury makers like BMW, Audi and Mercedes dominate 2008's Top Safety Picks, several ESC-equipped cars under $30,000 joined them.

In compiling our list, we chose cars in each of five classes--large, midsize, minivans, midsize SUVs and small SUVs. The IIHS measures eight classes, but only these five had cars with a manufacturer's suggested retail price under $30,000.

In addition to ESC, the $28,465 Ford Taurus X SEL, a midsize SUV, comes with four-wheel anti-lock brakes, de-powered airbags, passenger airbags, head airbags and side airbags.

The Nissan Murano S, another midsize SUV, offers more. It's got auto-dimming rear view mirrors; side, front and head air bags; rear seat head restraints; dynamic head restraints; trunk release; auto crash notify; and a tire pressure monitor.

While SUVs dominate the IIHS's list (20 vehicles out of 34 are SUVs), Rader warns that they aren't necessarily safer than smaller cars.

"Top Safety Picks recognize the top in their class, but it's hard to compare," he says. "You should, however, avoid vehicles that perform less than 'good' in any test."