Ten years ago, getting a smaller car often meant compromising safety.

Now, as people look for compact, more fuel-efficient vehicles, smaller cars are safer than they were a decade ago. But bigger is still safer.

"You can't compare a good-rated small car with a good-rated big car," said Russ Rader, the director of media relations at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "A small car that gets a good rating doesn't mean it's safer than a big car that gets less than a good rating."

The laws of physics work against cars in an accident, Rader said.

"The government requires cars to get better fuel economy but didn't repeal laws of physics at the same time," he said. "Weight is an important aspect of helping you in a crash.

The IIHS has four levels that it rates cars on: good, acceptable, marginal and poor. The first group of small cars was tested by the IIHS in 1997.

"None earned a good rating in the frontal crash test," Rader said. "Now, it's almost unheard of for a small car not to get a good rating."

The increase in safety features and design has led to a decrease in the death rate in drivers in a vehicle classified as small or mini.

In 1996, 165 drivers per million registered vehicles were killed in mini vehicle crashes, compared to 106 in 2006. Deaths in small vehicles dropped from 126 in 1996 to 99 a decade later.

Buyers Pick Priorities

As gas prices soar to record highs and people give compact cars a closer look, Rader said consumers need to look closely at their priorities.

"If both [fuel] economy and safety are the priority, then [consumers] have to recognize there is a huge tradeoff," he said. "There is no getting around the safety tradeoff, but you can have both things if you look at making some compromises."

Rader points to midsize sedans that have four-cylinder engines that offer safety and fuel economy.

"If you give up some of the enormous amount of horsepower, you can get very good fuel economy -- in some cases approaching that of smaller cars -- without giving up safety."

The Toyota Prius, while almost twice as expensive as the Toyota Yaris or Honda Fit, offers drivers almost the same fuel efficiency as those cars with more weight to protect the occupants in an accident. The Prius, at around 2,900 pounds, is about 600 pounds heavier than the Yaris and about 500 pounds heavier than the Fit.

"If fuel economy is absolutely your No. 1 priority and drive only in the city where speeds are low and high speed crashes are less likely, a small car may be a practical choice," Rader said. "But city-only driving is not typical."

"If you're in the market for small car, it's even more important to look at crash test ratings," Rader said. "There's still a lot of variation in how small cars perform. Consumers should look for a small car that have the highest crash test ratings."