Safest Family Cars

Finally, safe is sexy.

With so many car buyers putting safety at the top of their shopping lists — a recent Consumer Reports survey found that 12 percent of car shoppers ranked it as their top requirement in a new vehicle — automakers are rolling out appealing new vehicles that protect occupants exceedingly well.

The Acura MDX, which ranks fourth on our list of safest family cars, is a fine example. The crisp angles of this SUV’s body panels lend it a fresh, modern appearance. It moves well thanks to a more-than-ample 300-horsepower V6 engine. And its Super Handling All-Wheel Drive provides plenty of grip in adverse conditions or when driving spiritedly.

But it’s also extremely safe, having earned five stars from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for frontal and side impact protection, as well as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) top rating for frontal offset and rear collisions.

What’s more, the MDX comes with three rows of seating, perfect for drivers with a growing family who don’t want a minivan -- and those three rows are all protected with side-curtain airbags. The MDX is also equipped with a traction control system called Vehicle Stability Assist and a rollover sensor to keep the rubber on the road.

In Pictures: Safest Family Cars

Whether you opt for an SUV, sedan, minivan or wagon depends on how many people and what kind of trips you’ll be taking, says Anne Fleming, spokeswoman for the IIHS, an organization which represents the interests of the insurance industry.

Fine-Tuned Features

Body style aside, the set of experts we asked say that the safest vehicles for family use are those with electronic stability control, side-curtain airbags for all rows, and good crash-test results. There's also another factor you might not think of right away: reliability. Being stranded on the side of the road, even if you're in the safest vehicle available, can put you and your family at a much higher risk.

And risk, according to Michael Dulberger, president of the consumer advocacy group Informed for Life, is the way to look at the entire task. He recommends finding the safest vehicle for family use by assessing the overall risk to occupants, which he says is indicated by a number of factors, including top IIHS and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash-test ratings, good side-impact protection (including airbags), the presence of electronic stability control and a low propensity to roll over (indicated by a high NHTSA rollover star rating).

Once you've established low risk, Dulberger says, you should also make sure that the vehicle you're considering is rated five stars in the federal side crash test for rear occupants and also has head-protecting side-curtain airbags.

For families seeking optimal safety features such as these, automotive experts say the four-door midsize or large car is a near-sure bet. That's because most large sedans have good crash-test ratings, low death rates and low insurance claim rates, says Fleming, which means that injury rates generally are low too.

For Some, The Bigger The Better

But what if you're in the market for an SUV or a minivan? David Champion, director of automotive testing at Consumer Reports, says to look for models that do very well in crash tests and have secure handling. Most sport utility vehicles, even if they're so-called crossover vehicles with car-based underpinnings, have a higher likelihood to roll over, which increases risk and often counters the additional protection they might provide. Wagons, Champion says, offer the secure handling of sedans along with interior space that, in some models, rivals SUVs.

If it's extra passenger space you need, you'll find there's no shortage of new SUV or minivan models offering third-row seating that often expands capacity to seven or eight — provided the rearmost occupants are small and limber. But with some of them positioned nearly to the back of the vehicle, there's reason to be wary that they might not provide the same protection of the other rows.

Your best bet here is to "make absolutely sure that the side bags extend to that third seat," says Fleming, since they provide valuable head protection in side impacts.

A word of caution: Champion says there's very little fatality data to determine exactly how safe these arrangements are, but he adds that manufacturers have to comply with the same regulations for backrests, head restraints and seat belts. What's more, he says that with the folding-seat arrangements on many SUVs and minivans, it's easy to forget to put the headrests back into position.

Words Of Wisdom

Champion advises that shoppers consider what they really need, versus what they think they might someday need. For instance, going off-road or towing a boat once in a while might not justify the safety sacrifices — let alone the fuel bills — of a less-stable truck-based SUV.

If you need to use a child seat, Fleming cautions that not all vehicles will work well with all restraints. She recommends that if you're attached to a particular one, you should take it with you when vehicle shopping.

Behind The Numbers

In order to find the safest family cars, we compiled a list of vehicles — sedans, wagons, minivans and SUVs — that have earned top five-star rankings for both driver and passenger in the federal (NHTSA) crash tests for frontal impact, along with top five-star rankings for both the front seat and rear seat in NHTSA side impact tests.

Of those all-stars, we looked at IIHS crash test results for overall frontal offset, side and rear protection, and eliminated any models that scored, where tested, anything less than the top "good" rating. Then we weeded out any vehicles that don't offer electronic stability control, keeping those for which it's either standard or optional. We then considered reliability, disqualifying several vehicles that are rated below average in Consumer Reports' reliability ratings. Finally, we reordered and ranked the vehicles remaining based on the wealth of positive crash-test info available, and on overall Environmental Protection Agency interior volume to form our list.

In Pictures: Safest Family Cars