Mazda's all-new Mazda3 has earned the Top Safety Pick award from IIHS. Here's why the Mazda3 is so safe.
Mazda's all-new 2019 Mazda3 has earned the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety's (IIHS) Top Safety Pick designation. The Mazda3 earned the highest possible score of "Good" on every crash test conducted by the group. That includes the very difficult Small Frontal Overlap test for both the passenger and driver side of the vehicle.
Mazda3 Safety History
The Mazda3 has a long record of earning high marks in its segment for safety. In fact, the Mazda3 has earned the Top Safety Pick Award every year since 2012. That is one reason why the Mazda3 is often listed as the best pick as a used car.
Related Story: Mazda3 Earns Best Used Car Award From CarGurus
Mazda3 Standard Equipment
The 2019 Mazda3 comes standard with automatic emergency braking on all trims. This goes beyond what is required by law. The vehicle also come standard with the following safety features:
-Advanced dual front air bags
-Front seat-mounted side-impact air bags and side-impact air curtains
-Driver's and front passenger's knee air bag
-3-point safety belts for all seating positions
-Front safety-belt pretensioners with force limiters
-Whiplash-reducing front seat headrests
-Anti-lock Brake System with Electronic Brake Force Distribution & Brake Assist
-Dynamic Stability Control with Traction Control System
-Rearview camera
Mazda3 Child Safety
In addition to earning top crash test and active safety scores, the Mazda3 also has child safety seat tethers that earn the highest score possible. IIHS found that the two outboard rear seats have safety tethers that were:
In an easy-to-find location
Required no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
Were not located too deep in seat
Did not need too much force needed to attach
Were easy to maneuver around anchors
Those looking for a compact sedan or five-door hatchback vehicle who value their safety and that of their family members would be wise to put the 2019 Mazda3 high on their list of considerations.
Mazda 3 hatchback, my VIN, is
Mazda 3 hatchback, my VIN, is under national recall for faulty emergency brake activation. Car drops dead and won’t restart. Dealer lied and said it has the updated software to fix it. NHTSA says Mazda hasn’t come up with the fix. Safest car? I almost got rear ended on the highway. And the car then won’t start. Mazda is going to lose lots of customers. And I’m supposed to drive the car til a solution is found? Wonder if the cx30 has the same software... Mazda evidentially doesn’t buy into the transparency mindset.
Thanks for your comments
Thanks for your comments Mancini Ellen. Here is one part of the NHTSA recall you left out; "No injuries or deaths have been reported from the field to date as a result of this defect." Another part you left out is that Mazda does have a fix. It is reprogramming the system to prevent the false alert and braking. The "car dropping dead and won't restart" issue is something you should have investigated. It is not part of the NHTSA recall problem as far as we can see from the report. With regard to Mazda transparency, the automaker issued a statement the same day the recall was announced. Thanks for highlighting the issue. We will cover it in a story shortly.