As of July, Americans were driving nearly 11% fewer miles than they were in July of 2005, the peak of miles traveled on U.S. roads and highways. For the first few months of this year, as miles driven fell due to stay-at-home orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic, fatal car crashes increased by 14%.

One possible reason for the rise in accidents, both fatal and non-fatal, may be that drivers are paying less attention to the rules of the road given the lack of traffic, according to researchers at Insurify.com.

Whatever the reason, the researchers identified vehicle owners who had previously had an at-fault accident and from this subset of all drivers, identified the vehicle models with the 10 most accident-prone drivers.

A model’s safety was determined by ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) 2020 ratings and the vehicles were ranked by how far they exceeded the national average of 17.81% for accident-prone car owners by vehicle model. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) for each model was retrieved from Autoblog, which listed a national average new light vehicle price in February 2020 of $37,876.

Here are the 10 models with the most accidents.

10. Hyundai Veloster
> MSRP: $18,900 (about 50% below the average)
> IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick
> Accident rate: 24.3% (about 27% worse than average)

As an IIHS Top Safety Pick, the Veloster has excellent front-crash safety features and high-caliber headlights.

9. Mazda3
> MSRP: $20,500 (about 46% below the average)
> IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick+
> Accident rate: 24.4% (about 27% worse than average)

The Mazda3 has the IIHS’s highest safety rating, which is good news for its accident-prone drivers.

8. Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
> MSRP: $31,795 (about 16% below the average)
> IIHS rating: Marginal
> Accident rate: 24.5% (about 28% worse than average)

The Wrangler Unlimited gets the IIHS’s second-lowest safety rating, and it is the second-most expensive vehicle in this ranking.

7. Honda HR-V
> MSRP: $20,920 (about 45% below the average)
> IIHS rating: Good
> Accident rate: 24.6% (about 28% worse than average)

The Honda HR-V did not repeat as an IIHS Top Pick in 2020 due higher requirements to win the nod.

6. Toyota Prius C
> MSRP: $21,530 (about 43% below the average)
> IIHS rating: Average (2018 model)
> Accident rate: 24.7% (about 28% worse than average)

Toyota stopped building this model in 2019, and the IIHS safety rating on the 2018 model reflected the car’s light weight and insufficient safety measures.

5. Subaru Impreza
> MSRP: $18,795 (about 50% below the average)
> IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick
> Accident rate: 25.2% (about 30% worse than average)

The Impreza’s strong safety features help make up for its drivers’ lack of attention.

4. Hyundai Elantra GT
> MSRP: $20,650 (about 45% below the average)
> IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick
> Accident rate: 25.4% (about 30% worse than average)

The Elantra GT includes four-wheel antilock brakes and electronic stability control in the base model, a good thing given the record of the car’s drivers.

3. Subaru WRX
> MSRP: $27,945 (about 26% below the average)
> IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick
> Accident rate: 25.8% (about 32% worse than average)

WRX drivers collect more speeding tickets than drivers of any other vehicle, not just the models on this list.

2. Subaru Crosstrek

> MSRP: $22,245 (about 41% below the average)
> IIHS rating: Top Safety Pick
> Accident rate: 25.9% (about 32% worse than average)

Like all the Subarus on this list, the Crosstrek has high-quality safety features that are clearly necessary for the model’s accident-prone drivers.

1. Infiniti Q50
> MSRP: $36,600 (about 3% below the average)
> IIHS rating: Good
> Accident rate: 26.3% (about 33% worse than average)

The most expensive car on this list, the Q50 is also one of only two that did not achieve an IIHS Top Pick ranking. The lack of top-drawer safety features can be a bad combination with accident-prone drivers.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.