Mazda 3 among the best cars for teens says US News and World Report

Accidents involving teen drivers have increased due to using smartphones while driving, says the US News and World Report. Thus, they listed a number of cars that would prove best for teens in terms of reducing distraction and safety. One of them is the latest Mazda 3.

The Japanese compact car was highlighted for its infotainment system that minimizes interruptions while driving. This LCD touchscreen headunit can be paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth, so calls and text message can be attended hands free. 

Moreover, it’s controlled via MZD Connect – a rotary knob and a set of buttons located beside the handbrake. The best part of this is that the headunit’s touchscreen function is unusable when the car is moving, thus, the driver can concentrate more on the road.

Although they find its rear legroom to be a bit short, the news publisher jokingly mentioned that this could mean less distraction since taller friends would opt not to ride inside the Mazda 3.

Kidding aside, another aspect of the Mazda 3 that caught the news publisher’s attention is its assortment of driver-assist and safety features that help prevent or reduce accident impact.

For starters, the car comes with blind-spot monitoring to warn the driver of approaching vehicles from the rear left and right sides. It also has a lane-departure warning system which alerts the driver if the car is straying off the lane. 

The car’s forward collision warning system, on the other hand, signals the driver if the car ahead is too close and is about to be hit. Aside from these, the Mazda 3 also comes with low-speed automatic braking for front collision prevention on slow or moderate speeds (approximately 4 to 30 km/h). It also has parking sensors with rear cross-traffic alert that warns the driver of people or other cars approaching when backing up.

This array of safety features helped the Mazda 3 to achieve other notable accolades like a 2016 Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the Best Hatchback in Parents Magazine’s 10 Best Family Cars of 2016

It’s worth noting that the Mazda 3 that won the recognition is a US-spec model. Therefore, some of its features mentioned above may not be found on the local spec Mazda 3 that’s available from Mazda Philippines.

For more information about Mazda 3, visit the AutoDeal Car Guide.