Crash testing is getting tougher around the world, and modern cars are safer than ever. It appears buyers could be taking that for granted, with new research finding more than 50 per cent of buyers don't have a car's safety rating as a top-three priority when making a purchase.

International think tank says there's a "strong link" between speed and road deaths.

Slowly, autonomous vehicles are making their way onto the roads. We are probably decades away, perhaps even more, before a Level 5 system is ready for operation, but until then more and more driver assistance systems make their way into everyday vehicles.

In fact, their commitment to safety was what led to their sudden and dramatic disbanding.

Low-cost vehicles sold in developing markets are rarely paragons of safety , because making key body stress points from high-grade materials, and adding lots of safety equipment, is expensive.

The seatbelt allowed excessive forward movement in the small-overlap test, but the dummy's head was effectively protected by the front and side curtain airbags.