Strong scores for ‘driver safety’ and ‘other road user safety’ have the seen the Honda City (2009-2013) awarded a five-star rating in the
2025 Used Car Safety Ratings (USCR) report.
It was one of only two light cars to receive this rating, the other being the two-door Mini Cooper MkII hatch (2007-2013), which generally sells for around $6000 and up.
No vehicles in the light car category qualified for the gold-standard UCSR ‘safer pick’ designation, with both the Honda and Mini falling short on ‘crash avoidance’ – not surprising considering active safety systems were a comparatively new initiative in the period and took time to filter down to budget cars.
Interestingly, the newer
Honda City year-models (2014-2020) were also awarded five stars, yet scored lower on driver safety than their older counterparts.
Three categories – commercial utes, vans and people movers – managed just two safer picks among them.
Medium SUVs offer the widest choice of safe picks, with 21 models achieving the UCSR ‘safer pick’ tick. These included the
Mazda CX-5 (2012-2023), Honda CR-V (2012-2023),
Hyundai Santa Fe (2012-2018) and
Toyota RAV4 (2013-2023).
How are the used car safety ratings determined?
The Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) analysed data from 9.5 million vehicles and 2.6 million injured road users involved in police-reported crashes across Australia and New Zealand between 1987 and 2023.
This data was then used to determine which vehicles performed best for crash avoidance, driver safety, and other road user safety in real-world collisions.
According to MUARC, this year’s findings show vehicle safety continues to advance, with the average risk of death or serious injury in the event of a crash for drivers in 2023 year-model cars 43 per cent lower than vehicles manufactured in 2001.
What makes a car safe?
As a general rule, newer is safer. Ongoing efforts from crash safety organisations such as
ANCAP and EuroNCAP have led to manufacturers making improvements to each generation of vehicles.
The
Kia Cerato (2018-2023), for example, performed slightly better than the previous generation (2013-2018), and that generation demonstrated better crash results than the one before it (2009-2013).
The USCR ratings drop precipitously in cars manufactured prior to 2010, with the Kia Cerato (2004-2008) lumped with a one-star result compared to five stars for its newer stablemates.
Even the Subaru Impreza, a brand renowned for quality and safety, only achieved three stars in its 2001-2007 models.
Overall, large cars tend to be safer for occupants but can fall down on the ‘other road user safety’ score. The Mazda CX-9 (2007-2015) scored only one out of five for road user safety, while 2016-2023 models received five stars and led to a ‘safer pick’ designation.
Price is often a good indicator of safety. Even in 2025, a more expensive car is typically better built and loaded with more active safety equipment.
While commercial vehicles are far safer than they once were, they still lag behind passenger vehicles. The commercial ute/van categories are littered with one-star ratings and have only one safer pick, the Ford Transit (2013-2023).
