Your guide to buying a safe vehicles using car leasing or contract hire
There are lots of decisions you have to make when you buy or lease a new car. You have to take into account fuel consumption, interior specification, size, cost and emissions. You might want to consider the length of warranty and the car’s service requirements. And, you might also want to know how safe your car is.
Your car’s safety rating doesn’t just affect you and your passengers. While the number of deaths and serious injuries to car occupants in the UK fell by 524 in this year, the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed and injured rose steeply. Here, we look at these new figures and how you can choose a safer vehicle when you sign your next car leasing agreement.
New figures show that more needs to be done to save pedestrians and cyclists
in this year, the number of people killed and injured while in cars in the UK fell by over 500. A new report by AXA says that ‘car occupants benefit increasingly from the high standards of crash protection brought about by the Euro NCAP crash testing programme, ensuring more four and five-star cars than ever are on the market.’
However, 48 more pedestrians were killed in this year than in 2010 and 254 more were seriously injured. In addition, 425 more cyclists were seriously injured on the roads.
Since 2006, car occupants’ deaths and serious injuries have fallen by 35 per cent but for pedestrians the fall is just 16 per cent, while cyclist deaths and serious injuries have increased by 31 per cent. Headline Auto reports that ‘improvements to the front of cars that would benefit pedestrians and cyclists in a collision have simply not kept pace.’
If you’re choosing a new car, checking out the model’s safety rating is crucial for you, your passengers and other road users. Keep reading to find out more about which cars you should choose for your next contract hire or car lease if safety is your priority.
The safest car on the road for pedestrians
If you’re looking to sign a car lease on a vehicle with world-leading safety features, you should look no further than the Volvo V40. In May 2012 the V40 achieved five stars from Euro NCAP and is the organisation’s all time top scorer in its segment.
This is partly because the V40 boasts the world’s first Pedestrian Airbag technology, fitted as standard. In case of a crash with a pedestrian, sensors detect the impact, release the bonnet and deploy the airbag in a split second. In Euro NCAP’s tests, this has translated into a 88 per cent score in pedestrian protection, the highest score yet achieved in this part of the assessment.
Next, we reveal eight of the safest vehicles you can buy, lease or contract hire based on Euro NCAP’s 2012 awards.
Eight of the safest cars you can buy, lease or contract hire
The Euro NCAP 2012 awards recognised the safest cars on the market by their scores in the following areas: adult occupant, child occupant, pedestrian protection and ‘safety assist’. The results by class were:
- Renault Clio – Supermini
- Volvo V40 – Small Family
- BMW 3 Series – Large Family
- Fiat 500L and Ford B-MAX – Small MPV
- Ford Kuga – Small Off-Road 4×4
- Hyundai Santa Fe – Large Off-Road 4×4
- Ford transit – Business and Family Vans
If you’re looking for cheap car leasing but you don’t want to compromise your safety, why not consider one of these leading models?
Author Bio: Vincent Hill is Marketing Executive at First Vehicle Leasing . First Vehicle Leasing provides best Ford car leasing solutions to all over United Kingdom
