An automotive crash tester touts some lower-priced cars as offering some of the safest rides available today to make the point that safety features aren’t driving today’s vehicle price inflation but adding value.

The nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety cites as proof of less expensive new vehicles with strong safety credentials the 2026 versions of the Honda Accord, Hyundai Kona, Mazda 3, Subaru Forester and Toyota Camry. 

The compact Mazda 3 car, for example, starts at an asking price of $24,550, and the other four cited models also go for less than $30,000, IIHS President David Harkey wrote. 

Despite their lower prices in today’s market, the vehicles all won IIHS’ top safety award. The base trims include the highest crash protection offered today, automatic emergency brakes with pedestrian detection, and lane-departure warning and prevention, Harkey said.

The nonprofit, which tests vehicles for safety and awards those that pass the highest muster, said some people decrying lack of affordability in the new-car market have pointed to safety features as making vehicles too expensive.

“They want to abandon the development of lifesaving technologies and halt efforts to expand access to them,” Harkey said, pointing to the more affordable models with strong safety track records. “Giving up on safety progress, on the other hand, will have very real costs — in terms of both dollars and lives.

Harkey said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a federal agency, weighed the cost of increased auto safety features, finding in 2019 that the economic and quality of life benefits outweighed the expense of the features 23 to 1, or $881 billion to $38 billion. 

Recent years’ auto price inflation instead stems more from added convenience features, such as automatically retracting mirrors, puddle lights and power liftgates, along with the increasing size of vehicles on U.S. roads.

“Even those who buy less expensive models often choose to load them with optional features that have nothing to do with safety,” Harkey said. “The Mazda 3 I mentioned … will cost you $36,740 if you choose the Turbo Premium Plus instead of the lowest trim level.”