What Is the Best Car for New Parents?
August 25th, 2020 by Fix Auto USA
The best car for new parents is by definition the safest car for babies, right. If you’re preparing to welcome a newborn baby into the world, you’ll want to choose the safest car for babies that also happens to be within your budget.
Many newer cars on the market come equipped with innovative safety features that reduce the risk of an accident and give parents peace of mind.
To help ensure the safety of your newborn and other passengers, forward collision warning (FCW) and automatic emergency braking (AEB) are must-haves. If you approach a car too quickly, FCW will sound an alarm so you can apply the brakes or take other action to avoid a collision. If you are trying to attend to your newborn while you’re driving, and don’t realize that you’re about to slam into another car, the AEB feature will automatically apply the brakes for you. If you are trying to pull out of a parking spot or to change lanes, blind-spot monitoring will give you an extra set of eyes, so you can see beyond the driver’s line of sight and avoid a collision.
Those are just a few of the most popular safety features to protect your newborn baby. If you’re doing new car research, you might also look into smart tires, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warnings, stability control, and inattentive driving monitor.
What is the safest car for babies? A good place to start is with Consumer Reports, which tests and evaluates new cars (and all sorts of other products) and ranks them based on how well they perform. Recently they evaluated new sedans and SUVs across a variety of brands to determine the most suitable, best car for new parents.
When the non-profit organization’s expert evaluators tested the latest crop of cars, they paid particular attention to car-seat fit – in other words, how well the sedan or SUV works with a car seat. Is it easy to install and access? Is there enough room for parents to maneuver? Does the car seat fit securely?
SUV vs sedan for baby
After reviewing the test results, they came to a conclusion that may seem counter-intuitive. “Despite conventional wisdom, our tests show that some of the easiest vehicles for installing car seats are sedans, not SUVs.”
Safe sedans for newborn babies
Among the top-rated sedans in the category of “Best Cars for New Families” is the Toyota Camry Hybrid, with a 78 out of 100. What did Consumer Reports like about this car? For starters, it is a roomy ride that easily fits most car seats. That’s a key consideration when deciding on the best car for newborn baby. It also comes equipped with must-have safety features like forward collision warning (FCW), which alerts drivers to obstacles up ahead so they can avoid them, and automatic emergency braking (AEB), which can self-activate in order to avoid a collision.
Consumer Reports also liked the Honda Accord Hybrid, giving it a score of 75. Like the Toyota Camry Hybrid, the Honda Accord Hybrid includes advanced safety features like FCW and AEB, as well as all-wheel drive, which makes driving in inclement weather and uneven terrain much easier and safer.
And the safest car for babies is…
In Consumer Reports’ SUV category, the highest performer for new families is the Subaru Forester, receiving a score of 82. “Its winning features are standard advanced safety features such as FCW and AEB, great visibility, and standard all-wheel drive. It’s also easy to climb into and out of, and there’s plenty of room for a stroller in the back.” The high score also reflects the safety features that come standard, including forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, and lane keeping assistance.
The Honda CR-V, a small sport SUV, earned a solid score of 75, making it a contender for best car for new parents. The evaluators noted its easy car-sat installation, good cargo space, and ease of getting in and out of the SUV. The Nissan Rogue also received high praise and a score of 70. The 2021 Rogue will feature AEB with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, and more.
Driving a highly rated sedan or SUV with high tech safety features can help you avoid an accident and protect your growing family. This can give parents much needed peace of mind, but please don’t let the technology give you a false sense of security. In the final analysis, the best car safety feature to protect your newborn baby is simply safe driving behavior. Minimize distractions, stay focused on the road, and practice defensive driving. It may be low tech and old school, but it seems to work.
This blog post was contributed by Fix Auto Vancouver North, a leading industry expert and collision repair shop servicing Clark County.
