Sometimes you’re actually safer in a convertible. Here’s why.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - JANUARY 09: Maserati MCPURA Cielo two-seater, rear-mid-engine open top sports car on display at the AutoSalon press preview on January 09, 2026 in Brussels, Belgium. The 102nd Brussels Motor Show has firmly established itself on the international calendar, featuring over 60 car brands and more than 20 motorcycle brands, and visited by over 270,000 people. (Photo by Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images)

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In some cases, both the crash rates and driver fatality rates were actually lower for the convertible version of the same model car. In some cases, convertibles were involved in 6 percent fewer police-reported crashes per miles traveled than their solid-top counterparts.

There are a few theories as to why the findings turned out as they did.

*Convertible drivers wear their seat belts more often and are less likely to speed. Interestingly, however, they tend to be more likely to be impaired by alcohol.

*Convertibles are more expensive than cars with actual roofs, so the buyers and drivers would tend to be older with a bit more disposable income and are naturally a bit more careful than younger drivers.

*Convertibles are heavier than fixed-roof vehicles, and heavier cars tend to fare better in crashes.

*One drives a convertible a bit differently than you do a conventional car. You’re far more aware of your surroundings with an open top. You tend to drive your convertible in nice weather rather than during snow or ice storms, so dangerous road conditions are less likely to lead to a collision.

In fact, both crash rates and driver death rates were lower for convertibles than for nonconvertible versions of the same cars.

Study doesn’t apply to vehicles manufactured before 2014

This doesn’t mean you can blast around in that 1990 BMW 3 Series 325ic with impunity, however - the study doesn’t apply to models older than 2014. Convertible safety has a come a long way since then. For instance, some manufacturers have voluntarily strengthened the A-pillars on either side of the windshield and installed roll bars to provide additional protection in rollover crashes.

When IIHS evaluated a group of midsize convertibles in 2007, most of the 10 models earned good or acceptable ratings in the front and side crash tests, though eight had poor or marginal head restraints. Since then, convertibles have remained a low priority for the testing program simply because far less people buy them.

Eric Teoh, Director of Statistical Services at Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, says: “These findings don’t suggest that convertibles offer better protection for their occupants than other cars, but they do indicate there’s no statistical basis for concerns that the lack of a permanent roof makes them more dangerous.”

The study and its findings came from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Statistics regarding the number of police-reported crashes came from the National Automotive Sampling System General Estimates System and the Crash Report Sampling System that replaced it in 2016, also maintained by NHTSA.