Vehicle safety is often a top priority for car buyers. Nearly every owner wants the safest possible ride in their budget and segment preference. Of course, some models, like the Mitsubishi Mirage and Mirage G4, have a fatal accident rate well above the national average. 

A new study names the Mitsubishi Mirage and Mirage G4 as the No. 3 and No. 7 deadliest cars in America, respectively

The Mitsubishi Mirage isn’t long for the market. Mitsubishi announced that it would discontinue the small hatchback and sedan duo before the 2025 model year. Still, the impending discontinuation didn’t stop the model from one last unfortunate statistic. 

According to a recent iSeeCars study, both versions of the Mitsubishi Mirage ranked among the top 10 “Cars With the Most Frequent Occupant Fatalities.” For starters, the entry-level Mirage hatchback has a fatal accident rate of 13.6 per every billion vehicle miles. It’s the same fatal accident rate as the Chevrolet Corvette. As a result, the two substantially different models have a fatality rate of around 4.8 times the overall average for vehicles on American roads.

The Mitsubishi Mirage G4, the compact sedan variant of the Mirage, also took a top 10 spot. With a fatal accident rate of 10.1 per billion vehicle miles, the Mirage G4 holds the No. 7 position, just behind the popular Tesla Model Y. Interestingly enough, the Mirage’s closest competitor, the Nissan Versa, had a fatal accident rate of 7.2. 

Still, a senior analyst at iSeeCars concluded that a driver’s behavior has much more of an impact on the likelihood of a fatal crash than vehicle type. Most of these vehicles received excellent safety ratings, performing well in crash tests at the IIHS and NHTSA, so it’s not a vehicle design issue,” said Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “The models on this list likely reflect a combination of driver behavior and driving conditions, leading to increased crashes and fatalities.”