By Min Yea-Ji and Lee Hana

A list of 2017's safest cars was announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) on Dec. 13. The top three cars on the list were the BMW 520d, the Mercedes Benz E220d and the Kia Stinger.

The ministry has been conducting vehicle safety evaluations since 2013. Criteria for this evaluation include safety in collisions (60 points), pedestrian safety (25 points) and accident prevention (15 points), for a total possible score of 100.

The BMW 520d, with 99.1 points, and the Mercedes Benz E220d, with 97.4 points, came in first and second place. These models received particularly high scores in the pedestrian and accident prevention categories.

The Kia Stinger came in third place with 92.6 points. It rates as one of the safest sports sedans on the market here.

The Stinger received perfect scores in the safety in collision category. It received the highest score of 16 points in the front-impact, partial front impact and side-impact collision sub-categories, scores higher than those for the BMW or the Mercedes.

It also received an additional 2 points for pillar side-impact, and gained a full 60 points in the safety in collisions category.

"Starting next year, we will be adding a neck injury category, testing for injuries sustained by back-seat passengers when a car is impacted from behind. This year, we updated our children's safety in collisions category to reflect international standards. We're re working hard to improve the safety of all vehicles for passengers," said a manager in the vehicles department at the MLIT.

jesimin@korea.kr