Small Cars

My mother-in-law drives a Mitsubishi Eclipse and wants to take my 2 year old in her car. We bought an Expedition to help keep our family safe. I'm not comfortable with her putting my son in her car but I need proof that it's unsafe. Any ideas where I can get more information?

[CPSDarren]

Small cars are not necessarily unsafe. If your child is kept in the back seat in a properly used child restraint, then they should be reasonably safe in most vehicles.

Small cars do not have the advantage of high weight that large cars, minivans and SUVs do. On the other hand, consider that the Eclipse is much more likely to avoid a crash with its superior handling, braking and much lower rollover risk than the Expedition. That isn't to say the Eclipse is as safe, but if your mother-in-law is a good driver the overall risks should be very low.

[Robert]

I concur with Darren. However if you want to look up the rating for the Mitsubishi Eclipse, you can check ratings of most vehicle regarding crash studies at the following,


www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/NCAP