See all Motoring AdviceIt’s funny how strapping kids into the back of your car can really change your driving habits. I wager €5 that you drive a little slower, take a little more care and are generally that bit safer when your most precious cargo is in the back. But how do you know which car is actually the safest one to put your younglings into the back of? Well, there are a few handy tips to help you find the best…
The first place to start is the EuroNCAP website. EuroNCAP, established in the late nineties, is an independent crash-testing service that inspects the safety performance of new cars in a variety of violently exciting simulated accidents. It’s not pretty to see a car driven at 40km/h into an offset steel barrier, nor fired sideways into a simulated telegraph pole, but the end result is safer cars for you and me.
And for your kids, because helpfully EuroNCAP tests for both adult safety and child safety, using the recommended car safety seats for each model. In 2016, the highest-scoring car for child safety was the Subaru Levorg, which got a score of 83 per cent. The Toyota Prius and new Renault Scenic were on 82 per cent while the Alfa Romeo Giulia got 81 per cent. The Kia Niro and Hyundai Ioniq both scored 80 per cent.
In 2015 testing, the Renault Espace (which sadly isn’t sold here) scored a whopping 89 per cent, as did the Volkswagen Touran, while the Audi A4, and Ford Galaxy and S-Max all got 87 per cent scores, as did the new Renault Megane. The Kia Optima, Skoda Superb, Toyota Avensis, Opel Astra and Jaguar XE all scored above 80 per cent for child occupant protection.
The highest-ever rating for child occupant safety that EuroNCAP has recorded was for the current model of the SEAT Leon, which in 2012 posted a 92 per cent score, while others in the 90 per cent bracket include the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the Citroen SpaceTourer MPV.
Of course, it’s worth pointing out that the EuroNCAP tests are carried out in a laboratory environment, and the tests are done to specific, repeatable parameters, so in that sense what can happen out on the road can be vastly different. It’s here that the old safety champs Volvo and Mercedes-Benz come into the equation, as they are the only two car companies with agreements with local law enforcement agencies that allow them to investigate accidents involving their cars. It’s that real-world data that puts those two brands, for us, head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to providing seriously high safety levels. OK, so they’re expensive brands, but you can always pick one up for less second hand…
The biggest issue with child safety in cars is of course making sure that they’re in the right seats. ISOFIX points, solid steel anchors to which the base of a child safety seat can be clipped, are obviously the best solution as they’re effectively a way of making sure that the seat is a part of the car’s structure. ISOFIX compatible seats can be bulky and heavy though, but they are a good option. The trickier part is finding a car with three individual ISOFIX points across the back seat, but these include the Ford S-Max and Galaxy, SEAT Alhambra, Citroen C4 Picasso, Peugeot 5008, Opel Insignia, Volkswagen Touran, Audi Q7 and Tesla Model S, oddly. The cheapest new car with three ISOFIX points is the Renault Twingo, but one of those is in the front passenger seat.
When the kids get older, don’t be too quick to throw away the booster cushion though – remember that seatbelts designed for adults aren’t correctly positioned for kids, and that the number one cause of child injury in an accident is an incorrectly located seatbelt.