Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
The Transport Agency's updated used car safety ratings shows SUVs are generally scoring higher, while utes and people movers lag behind.
With the tool, which includes a crash avoidance rating, cars are rated from one to five stars.
Waka Kotahi principal advisor vehicle safety Todd Wylie told Morning Report it was important for people to check the star rating when they bought a car.
"The components that make up the safety ratings are basically based on real world crash data collected across Australia and New Zealand, so the more stars the safer the car is very true.
"We know that a car that scores four or five stars safety rating in real world crashes is at least twice as safe as a car that scores one or two stars."
Wylie said the idea that the biggest cars were the safest was a common misconception.
"It's not always the way at all. Bigger can be better but bigger is also often worse who you come into contact with as well, and our safety ratings look at how vehicles are for all road users not just the occupants of the vehicles, because we should be doing our part to keep the whole of society safe."
Wylie said there were a lot of great crash avoidance features in cars now.
"Electronic emergency braking; that can break the vehicle for you in moments of inattention or say when a child runs out in front of the car unexpectedly, we also have lane keeping assist, lane keeping support; systems that help steer the vehicle into the lane or alert the driver if they're leaving the lane... we see that they do make a real difference in the real world."
Safe cars were available in most price ranges, Wylie said.
"Obviously if you have more money to spend you may have a larger range to choose from but safety doesn't necessarily cost more it's just about making the right choices to start with."
Wylie said people movers could have lower ratings often due to the age of the vehicles.
"People movers is I guess an older category of vehicle now, most people have moved into the likes of large SUVs for carrying a lot of people, and so those newer vehicles do have some of those crash avoidance features or maybe even different materials in their construction as well."
Wylie said the fleet in New Zealand was getting better over time as far as safety.
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