Although various 'theoretical' crash testing scenarios are popular in assessing car safety in UK the Department of Transport publish the actual level of road deaths in each type of car. These statistics are available tabulated in the form of the "Risk of injury measured by percentage of drivers injured in a two car injury accident."
Overall these statistics show a ten to one ratio of in-vehicle accident deaths between the least safe and most safe models of car.
The statistics show that for popular, lightly built cars occupants have a 6%-8% chance of death in a two car accident.
(e.g. BMW 3 series 6%, Subaru Impreza 8%, Honda Accord 6%). Traditional "safety cars" such as the Volvos halve that chance (Volvo 700 4% incidence of death, Volvo 900 3%).
Despite poor performance in theoretical tests and criticism from media pundits SUVs fare much better than 'safety cars' with the Jeep Cherokee and Toyota Land Cruiser giving 2% incidence of death in actual crashes.
Overall the four best vehicles to be in are the Jaguar XJ series 1%, Mercedes S Class/ SEC 1%, Land Rover Defender 1% and Land Rover Discovery 1%
