Porsche, Volvo, Lexus, Jaguar. Car brands with a solid, unshakeable reputation for safety. However a new survey shows that they're also the brands with the highest accident rate.

But unloved brands like Daewoo and Austin come out, in contrast, on top. What's going on? Do slower cars simply have a better safety record?

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Speed hit

The survey from Tiger.co.uk claims Porsche car drivers have a 23.6% Overall Accident Rating, closely followed by Volvo - a brand that has built much of its success on middle class anxiety about safety - with 21.4%. Lexus and Jaguar followed close behind at 21.1% and 20.4%.

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At the other end of the table, Daewoo (7.3%), Austin (9.2%) and Fiat (10%) drivers all had a far lower Overall Accident Rate. The findings show that, proportionately, Porsche and Volvo drivers are more likely to wrap their car around a tree than a Daewoo driver.

That will be the Daewoo

But Daewoo is also a brand now more familiar to UK consumers with vacuum cleaners and washing machines than their unloved, unremarkable cars (Matiz, Kalos, Tacuma, Leganza, etc), and a brand that got hived off to GM in 2001.

And how many people drive an Austin (score 9.2%) now? The fact that a Daewoo Matiz or an Austin Maestro 1.3L were never quick cars when launched must also help keep the stats down (not to mention their speed-averse owners).

However, where this survey is more interesting is with the difference car colours make. Red cars had significantly less accident claims overall (11.3%) compared to grey (16.2%) or silver (15.4%) vehicles. See table below.

Make it a red 911, then.

Car brands with the highest accident rate

Car brands with the highest accident rate







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