The Top 5 Safest Cars for Your Kids

When it comes to choosing the best car for your family, safety usually ranks high on the priority scale. Whether you’re doing the school run or setting off on a cross-country road trip, you want to ensure your little ones are securely tucked in and protected whenever they’re travelling with you. And thanks to continuous design improvements and technological advances over the years, the cars on today’s market are more reliable than ever.

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program, commonly known as ANCAP, is Australasia’s leading independent vehicle safety authority. It is an independent body that generates safety ratings for new cars based on a five star system. For a car to be awarded five stars, it must score at least 80%. In determining each score, several key criteria are considered, one of which relates to child occupant protection. This attempts to measure how well protected children are in the event of an accident or impact.

Here in Australia, only 13 models have surpassed 90 percent in the Child Occupant Protection (COP) category, with most of them brought to us by Mercedes-Benz. Without further ado, here are the top five safest cars for your young family according to ANCAP.

5. Mercedes-Benz A-Class

It is interesting to note that all variants of Mercedes-Benz’s A-Class passenger range scored an impressive 45/49 for COP. And no wonder! The A-Class is loaded with airbags - frontal airbags, side chest-protecting airbags for both the front and the rear passenger, side head-protecting airbags and a driver knee airbag. According to ANCAP’s review, “all of the selected child restraints could be accommodated in each of the rear seating positions and full points were scored for this assessment”.

4. Mercedes-Benz EQC

The EQC is everything an electric car should be and more. And one of its highlights is undeniably its extensive safety features. From dynamic side protection to child restraint installation, you can rest assured your little ones are safe and sound in this ride. This model also has plenty of air bags, including side chest-protecting airbags in the front and second rows, side airbags for the head, and knee airbags for the driver - standard across all variants.

3. Mercedes-Benz GLE

The Mercedes-Benz GLE is the highest-scoring SUV on this list, coming in at 45.2/49. Its safety features include lower ISOFIX anchorages on the second row outboard seats as well as top tether anchorages in second row seats for assisted seating. Where it misses out is its lack of such support in its optional third row, and because of this ANCAP recommends against using these seats.

2. Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class

Mercedes-Benz’s fourth entry is the CLA-Class with a whopping 45.4/49 COP score, winning most of its marks for its front protection. The CLA-Class is also packed with airbags from the front side, with side head-protecting airbags and one on the driver’s seat. You’ll also find ISOFIX points and tether anchorage points on deck behind the three second-row seats.

1. Mercedes-Benz B-Class

Small but can do it all, coming in tops is no other than the Mercedes-Benz B-Class. This multi-purpose vehicle pipped the bunch, with 45.5/49 for COP. The B-Class earned its number one spot thanks to its airbags located on multiple seats, ISOFIX points on two outboard seats, and top tether anchorage points on all three seats in the second row.

Are you looking for a safe new car for your family? As always, we recommend Motor Matcher. At Motor Matcher, everything we do is modelled around providing customers with the right tools and empowering them with rich information, helping them make sound decisions when buying and selling cars. We offer a faster, simpler way to compare new and used cars online, creating an ideal and safe marketplace for all car buyers and sellers.

Visit our website today at www.motormatcher.com.au.