From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbetter (to be) safe than sorrybetter (to be) safe than sorryspokenCAREFUL used to say that it is better to be careful, even if this takes time, effort etc, than take a risk that may have a bad result Set the alarm clock – better safe than sorry! → safe
Examples from the Corpus
better (to be) safe than sorry• I think I'll take my umbrella along - better safe than sorry.• Anyway, better safe than sorry.• The overall message of precaution-better safe than sorry-has intuitive appeal. 