Used car buyers are being warned the safety rating of their next vehicle could mean the difference between life and death in the event of a crash.

The warning comes from the RAC WA who released its 2018 used car safety ratings guide on Wednesday.

RAC released its used car safety list on Wednesday. Credit:Peter Braig

The ratings were calculated by Monash University’s accident research centre and were based on records from more than eight million vehicles and nearly two million injured road users involved in real-life crashes from 1987 and 2016.

The centre looked at how well each vehicle protected its driver and other road users from death or serious injury in a crash.