Prioritizing Your Next Car's Safety Features Could Save Your Life As Well As Your Pocketbook

While many factors go into calculating your auto insurance premium such as age, home location and previous credit rating, one of the biggest factors is what model of car you drive.

Auto insurance premiums
The type of car you drive has many insurance-determining features already built in. Insurance providers use safety features like airbags, security alarms and locks, as well as National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's crash test ratings of your vehicle when determining your premium rates. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the average auto insurance expenditure in the United States during 2012 was approximately $815 for the year.

"Your car's safety features can save your premiums big."

Why insurance companies like safety ratings
Safety ratings are regulated based on several factors, according to Money Crashers. How likely the car's driver (typically the owner) is to be injured in an accident is a prime factor. Secondary factors include how likely a passenger is to become injured and how likely your car is to injure the people in other cars involved in an accident. 

Features such as airbags, traction control, or automatic seat belts make your car safer. This makes getting injured in an accident - and even the accident happening at all - far less likely to occur. 

Essentially, having a vehicle with a high safety rating simply indicates a lower chance of having to pay for you, your passengers, or others involved in an accident. Insurance companies care about this because cars with higher safety ratings lower their chances of having to pay those medical bills.

2016's top 10 safety picks:
According to Kelly Blue Book, the following list makes up the top 10 safety picks of 2016 sedan-class cars. The list was gathered from various data points, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's overall crash test ratings, miles per gallon and average consumer ratings. Every single car on the 2016 top safety picks achieved a 5 out of 5 rating from NHTSA crash safety testing. 

10. Cadillac ATS - 22 city/31 highway miles per gallon, and a 9.0 out of 10 consumer review rating from KBB.
9. Buick Regal - 21/30 MPG and an 8.9/10 consumer review rating from KBB.
8. Audi S6 - 18/27 MPG
7. Audi S4 - 17/26 MPG and 9.5/10 KBB consumer review rating.
6. Audi S3 - 23/31 MPG
5. Audi A6 - 25/33 MPG and a 9.3/10 consumer review rating from KBB.
4. Audi A4 - 24/31 MPG and an 8.8/10 KBB consumer review rating from KBB.
3. Audi A3 - 22/33 MPG and a 9.2/10 KBB consumer review rating from KBB.
2. Acura RLX - 20/31 MPG and a 9.4/10 KBB consumer review rating from KBB.
1. Acura ILX - 25/36 MPG and an 8.6/10 KBB consumer review rating from KBB.

This year appears to be Audi's year, with the brand successfully taking an astounding 6 out of 10 sedans from Kelly Blue Book's top safety list.

Make sure your car and all the liabilities that go along with it are protected with the best auto insurance plan for you. Compare auto insurance, motorcycle insurance and other types of insurance fast at CoverHound.