This leaflet is published in an effort to give general safety information to those who are choosing a car model. The information contained in the leaflet is based on the University of Oulu research on accident and driver injury risk by car model in 2000. The table overleaf reflects accident involvement and injury risk exposure for the most common car models in Finland. The accident involvement statistics are based on a total of 219,846 claims paid by insurers in 1991 to 1998 under compulsory Motor Liability Insurance for crashes caused on public roads and streets by drivers of privately used cars. The injury risk statistics are based on a total of 375,234 claims paid for two-car collisions occurred on public roads and streets in 1987 to 1998, which left 30,353 drivers injured. The total number of claims paid for two-car collisions in the same period was 616,841. The risk of accident involvement and driver injury varies from one car model to another. The research reveals that the passive safety of all car models improved in the 1990s. When it comes to active safety, accident involvement risk decreased in the group where the new car model was the guilty party but increased in the group of innocent cars.
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