Muscle Car Owners Among Most Likely To Die Behind The Wheel

Muscle car owners are more prone to death behind the wheel, alongside drivers of cheap, small cars.

A new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has shown muscle cars are among the deadliest vehicles on American roads, not only for drivers but for other road users too.

The vehicle safety organization looked at vehicles from MY2020, with calculations showing vehicles such as the Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, and Ford Mustang have some of the highest driver death rates.

“We typically find that smaller vehicles have high driver death rates because they don't provide as much protection, especially in crashes with larger, heavier SUVs and pickups,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “The muscle cars on this list highlight that a vehicle's image and how it is marketed can also contribute to crash risk.”

But the aforementioned vehicles have reasonable safety ratings, so why do they feature so prominently?

According to the IIHS, it may have to do with the marketing and image of these cars. After all, it doesn't make sense that a similarly powered Mercedes-Benz E-Class has zero deaths per million registered vehicle years, and the rear-wheel drive Challenger, for example, has 154.

“We can measure horsepower and weight and test for crashworthiness. However, the deadly record of these muscle cars suggests that their history and marketing may be encouraging more aggressive driving,” said Harkey. Of course, we must also remember that some vehicles with higher death per million scores are more common than others.

What's more, vehicles such as the E-Class or BMW X3 (which also scored zero) are typically driven by older, family-minded individuals. If you look at the marketing for these vehicles, they typically focus on luxury, comfort, and safety – not necessarily performance.

But while muscle cars have taken the spotlight here, they aren't the worst offenders. With the exception of the Challenger, Charger, Camaro Convertible, and Nissan Altima, the top 10 poorest performers are all smaller vehicles. The Mirage G4 and Mirage hatchback have a death rate of 205 and 183, respectively, which is alarming.

Hyundai's Accent, along with the Chevy Spark, Kia Rio, and Kia Forte, also occupy spots in the top 10. “The models that rank among the best and worst performers on both lists point to the unfortunate fact that vehicle cost remains a factor in road safety,” Harkey said. For vehicles with the lowest death rates, six of the ten best entrants come from a premium or luxury manufacturer.

But when it comes to other-driver death rates, muscle cars are ranked among the highest offenders. In fact, the Charger Hemi (164) is linked to more other-driver deaths than even the Ram 2500 and Ford F-350.

The Ram 3500 Crew Cab long bed 4WD has the highest rate of other-driver-related deaths, at 189. This list is dominated by large pickups and SUVs, supporting earlier studies that these large vehicles put other road users and pedestrians at greater risk.

So, what else does this interesting study tell us about vehicle safety? Something rather worrying. The average driver death rate for 2020 (and equivalent models) increased to 38 deaths per million registered vehicles. In 2017, the average was 36. To make matters worse, this is a notable increase compared to 28 for 2011 models.

However, the IIHS notes this is “consistent with a larger number of US traffic fatalities over the four-year period covered by this study.” Unsurprisingly, “minicars” had the highest driver death rates (153 per million registered vehicles), while large luxury cars have a death rate of just four.

Interestingly, there are more other-driver fatalities compared to driver fatalities. There's a simple explanation for this. Newer cars are, obviously, safer than most vehicles they collide with. The wider American fleet comprises older vehicles, with more people choosing to keep their older cars.

“Overall, newer vehicles are much safer than those of the past,” said Chuck Farmer, IIHS vice president of research and statistical services. “But, unfortunately, there are still major differences in the levels of protection that various models provide. There was also a spike in speeding-related fatalities during the pandemic, which may help explain why we find so many muscle cars among the worst performers for this period.”

The top 20 cars with the highest rates of driver deaths are as follows:

1. Mitsubishi Mirage G4 – 205
2. Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback – 183
3. Dodge Challenger 2WD – 154
4. Hyundai Accent – 152
5. Chevrolet Spark – 151
6. Kia Rio sedan – 122
7. Dodge Charger HEMI 2WD – 118
8. Chevrolet Camaro convertible – 113
9. Nissan Altima – 113
10. Kia Forte – 111
11. Chevrolet Camaro coupe – 110
12. Chevrolet Sonic – 107
13. Hyundai Elantra sedan – 103
14. Chrysler 300 4WD – 100
15. Ford Mustang convertible – 97
16. Chevrolet Malibu – 91
17. Dodge Charger 2WD – 91
18. Chevrolet Trax 2WD – 89
19. Ford EcoSport 2WD – 84
20. Chevrolet Impala – 80

Keyword: Muscle Car Owners Among Most Likely To Die Behind The Wheel