When it comes to safety, not every car is safe. Poor designs and cheap materials make some cars unsafe, while others don’t even have the proper safety features. Choosing such a vehicle can be deadly on the road under certain circumstances. Here are the 10 most dangerous cars in the world.
1. DeLorean DMC-12
The DeLorean traveled through time in Back to the Future, but it's not the kind of car you'd want to take on a real-life track. Those gull-wing doors look fancy, but they can lock in a crash. The doors also have no safe exit, and the small windows are hard to get out of. The stainless steel body, mounted on a fiberglass frame, also can't handle high speeds. Launched as a safe, sports-car safety car, it's anything but.
John DeLorean, who became famous not only for building the spectacular interior of this car, but also for the trial in which he was accused of drug trafficking. In the end, he was acquitted, and there were rumors that this case was specially brought by former colleagues who did not like his co-authored book "General Motors in the True Light."
2. Toyota Yaris
You don't want to be in a Toyota Yaris in an accident. With a car like that, neither you nor anyone who hits you has a chance of surviving. The Data Institute studied insurance statistics from 2009 to 2011 and found that for every 1,000 insured Yaris vehicles, there were 28.5 times more injury claims than for other vehicles.
3. Hyundai Pony
People liked the price of the Hyundai Pony, South Korea's first mass-produced car. The cheap raw materials used to make the body gave the driver and passengers little protection if the car crashed, making it one of the most dangerous cars in the world.
4. Ferrari 458 Italia
It's a bit of a stretch to say that Italian supercars have always caught fire, but in this car's case, it may have been true. More than 1,240 cars were recalled in 2012 because the glue used to attach the inner fenders was flammable and near the exhaust. There were no fatalities, but questions remained about why such a safety risk had been tested when the car was released onto the road.
5. Chevrolet Cobalt
An ignition fault that causes the Chevrolet Cobalt to suddenly shut off and deactivate safety systems while driving makes it one of the most dangerous cars in the world, with 90 deaths and 163 injury claims reported in 2015. About 2.6 million vehicles were recalled after General Motors admitted faulty switches moved out of position, cutting off power to the steering brakes and airbags.
6. Pontiac Fiero
The Pontiac Fiero passed the crash test, but drivers reported that it was at risk of becoming a fireball. The manual incorrectly stated that the car needed 3 quarts of oil, which led to it being clogged because it needed 4.5 quarts. The resulting engine problems caused oil to leak into the exhaust pipes. Add in poor coolant lines and faulty wiring, and it added another 260 reports of engine failures.
7. Audi 5000
A faulty engine causes an Audi 5000 to accelerate uncontrollably when idling. Audi has recalled a batch of cars to install a device that prevents the driver from shifting unless their foot is on the appropriate pedal. Six deaths and 700 accidents have been attributed to this car.
8. Ford Explorer
The Ford Explorer followed another questionable vehicle, the Ford Bronco II. Both suffered from design flaws that made them susceptible to rollovers. Despite this, no design changes were made. When reports began to surface that Ford Explorer SUVs were getting into accidents on level ground, the auto giant's management was quick to blame tire manufacturers - they said that Firestone tires were not reliable enough and could blow out at high speeds. After that, all the cars were switched to Goodyear tires, and the tire company completely changed management. By that time, Explorer had already chalked up 170 deaths and 500 injuries.
9. Ford Pinto
Driving a compact car always comes with risks when it comes to failures, but the Ford Pinto was worse. The automatic transmission had a bad habit of jumping into gear on its own, which led to at least two dozen deaths, according to official figures. The gas tank’s location in front of the rear bumper made it prone to exploding in a rear-end collision. About 500 deaths and hundreds of injuries were the result of this flaw. To make matters worse, the fuel tank would rupture in a collision, causing deadly fires that led to 500 deaths.
10. Chinese cars
Three Chinese cars, the Brilliance BS6, Chery A15 and Geely CK, are the most dangerous cars in the world. They are sold in only a few markets around the world because they are dangerous, fail crash safety tests and the car body is reduced to a pile of scrap metal, meaning your body will be no better off if you crash in one of these cars.
