The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) just released its driver fatality rankings for the 2023 model year, and if you drive a tiny subcompact or a V8-powered ego booster, you might want to take a deep breath.
By analyzing the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System alongside Mobility Global registration data, the IIHS calculated driver deaths per million registered vehicle years, focusing strictly on drivers, given that every vehicle has someone behind the wheel, but passengers are purely optional. Unsurprisingly, subcompacts, sports cars, and muscle machines dominate the high-fatality chart. Taking a closer look, however, exposes a distinctly American dilemma: sheer mass matters, but so does raw horsepower paired with questionable decision-making.
Taking top dishonors as the deadliest ride for its driver is the humble Kia Rio, racking up a staggering 170 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years. It scores well in lab crash tests, but real-world physics tends to be far less diplomatic. The Nissan Versa trails right behind it, but a diminutive footprint alone isn’t the sole offender.
Full-size heavyweights like the Chrysler 300 (132 deaths) and the Dodge Challenger, 127 for Hemi models and 125 for non-Hemis, prove that solid metal can be just as perilous when wrapped around muscle car bravado. Nissan, the Hyundai-Kia group, and Stellantis each landed three models in the worst driver-fatality top ten, alongside the midsize Chevrolet Malibu sitting at 116.
On the flip side, eighteen of the twenty safest vehicles with the lowest driver fatality rates are SUVs. Luxury behemoths like the Audi Q7, BMW X7, Mercedes GLB and GLE, plus the Chevy Tahoe 4WD and Toyota Tundra CrewMax, recorded a driver death rate of zero.
When evaluating “other-driver” fatality rates size becomes downright aggressive. The massive Ram 3500 Crew Cab Long Bed 4WD leads the devastation with an astronomical other-driver death rate of 204, followed by the Dodge Charger Hemi at 161, its non-Hemi sibling at 136, the Chevy Silverado 3500 at 126, and the Ram 1500 Classic at 124.
Overall, Stellantis brands claim seven of the top ten deadliest spots for other drivers. As IIHS President David Harkey noted, even the safest small cars stand little chance against heavy pickups, while muscle cars owe their lethal reputation to high horsepower and aggressive driving habits.