When buying a new vehicle, most people don’t pay as much attention to the safety ratings as they do to other features.

That’s why I often use information I receive from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the agency that crash-tests so many new vehicles and rates them for safety features. I hope readers will pay attention to what the IIHS says. Vehicle safety should be one of, if not the most important feature to consider when purchasing a new or used vehicle.

In recent news from the IIHS, the Honda Accord outperformed other midsize cars in IIHS’s updated moderate overlap front crash test, earning a rare, good rating in the new, challenging evaluation focused on rear-seat protection. Among the other six midsize cars tested, the Subaru Outback earns an acceptable rating. The Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry are rated marginal. The Hyundai Sonata, Kia K5, and Volkswagen Jetta are rated poor.

“In most of the midsize cars we tested, the rear dummy slid forward, or ‘submarined,’ beneath the lap belt, causing it to ride up from the pelvis onto the abdomen and increasing the risk of internal injuries,” IIHS President David Harkey said. “In the three poor-rated vehicles, measurements taken from the rear dummy also indicated likely injuries to the head or neck as well as to the chest.”

IIHS launched the updated moderate overlap front test last year after research showed that the risk of a fatal injury in newer vehicles is now higher for belted occupants in the rear than for those in front. This is not because the rear seat has become less safe. Rather, the front seat has become safer because of improved airbags and advanced seat belts that are rarely available in back. Even with these developments, the back seat remains the safest place for young children who can be injured by an inflating front airbag.

For a vehicle to earn a good rating, there can’t be an excessive risk of injury to the head, neck, chest, or thigh, as recorded by the second-row dummy. The dummy should remain correctly positioned during the crash without submarining. The head should also remain a safe distance from the front seatback and the rest of the vehicle interior, and the shoulder belt should remain on the shoulder, where it is most effective.

The Accord provided stellar protection in the back seat. Measurements taken from the rear dummy showed no heightened risk of injuries, and the rear restraints did a good job controlling the dummy’s motion.

For a plethora of information on vehicle and highway safety go to: www.iihs.org.