American lawmakers are fixated on Chinese cars, conjuring up the most exaggerated claims as to why they should be completely banned from U.S. highways. I think the latest bout of theories includes Chinese vehicles getting used as a way to spy on our military bases. Not sure what valuable information the Chinese government would get from a car whizzing past an exit that says “Army Base This Way” from the highway, but who knows. I’m sure something dastardly could come of it.<\/p>\n
As of now, Chinese cars are not fully banned but they are nearly impossible to get into the United States. This is due to an ongoing 100% ban on imported vehicles from the country as well as the claim that Chinese cars wouldn’t pass America’s strict safety regulations.<\/p>\n
However, this is yet another case of being worked up about the wrong things. Similar to how domestic automakers are spying on drivers<\/a> (more than China currently does), non-Chinese brands are also compromising driver safety to keep prices down.<\/p>\n In a report first published by Drive<\/a>, the Euro New Car Assessment Program (or the NCAP, Europe’s version of the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration) found that some automakers are deliberately remaining unsafe to keep costs down. Euro NCAP’s Technical Director, Richard Schram, explained that these brands deliberately design their vehicles to score fewer than five stars in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s rating system to keep prices lower.<\/p>\n An example he gave was Dacia, a budget car brand that aims for three stars to remain at a competitive price point. But it’s not just brands outside the United States that do this. Honda and Kia are also guilty of this tactic, with the HR-V and CR-V only achieving five stars when drivers buy higher trims with added safety features. This includes life-saving features like advanced collision avoidance and smarter lane assist. Meanwhile, the Kia K4 is rated at four stars in its base form. Mitsubishi and Nissan’s entry-level models have far less safety features and driver-assist features at the base trim \u2014 you’ll have to pay thousands more to add them.<\/p>\n It’s quite an alarming realization (although some at the Euro NCAP deny a correlation). As the average price of new cars increases, most Americans can’t afford even the base models. Most families are going to forgo the additional safety feature add-ons. Purposefully putting the average American at risk just to entice them with lower pricing is definitely a jarring tactic. I guess it’s not really news<\/em>, but hearing it said out loud really puts it into perspective.<\/p>\n However, Americans aren’t trapped picking these riskier vehicles (or paying for higher trims).<\/p>\n David Harkey, President of the IIHS-HLDI, mentioned that there are some (debatably) affordable vehicles that have the IIHS’ highest safety rating, the Top Safety Pick+ award. He mentioned the 2026 Mazda 3, which currently starts at $24,550, and the 2026 Hyundai Kona for $25,500. There is also the Toyota Camry and Subaru Forester, which are under $30,000.<\/p>\nAre Americans stuck with an unsafe car?<\/h2>\n