Small cars may have good environmental scores, but they place their occupants at greater risk of whiplash injuries in an accident.
Respected safety body Thatcham has shown that city cars such as the Ford Ka and Fiat 500 offered only marginal protection from whiplash compared to larger cars like the BMW 5 Series.
Only two city cars achieved a rating of acceptable: the Renault Twingo and Smart Fortwo.
Matthew Avery, research manager of Crash at Thatcham, said: "City cars are not equipped to protect their occupants' necks when they have to absorb the crash energy from larger, heavier vehicles, which, combined with poor seat design, makes whiplash far more likely.
"We are seeing improved seat designs across the board, but it's not something inherently linked to higher value cars and this latest set of results will hopefully act as a catalyst for car makers to look at improving seat and restraint design."
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