New top safe cars available

New top safe cars available, but life-saving technology slow to emerge

Top safety marks for new cars are flowing thick and fast with a range of vehicle categories at the top of the class.

The Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (ANCAP) has added two of New Zealand’s most popular vehicles to the 5 star safety rating line up with the Mazda 2 and CX-3 both joining the club this week.

Recently Nissan’s Navara duel cab, king cab and single cab utes all received good marks during the crash test to achieve 5 star safety status. They were joined by the Holden Astra GTC, CTC Sport and VXR and also Jeep’s Grand Cherokee.

Meanwhile a little further up the market food chain, ANCAP has announced the Audi TT sports car has earned a 4 star ANCAP safety rating.

While the TT performed generally well in occupant and pedestrian protection, insufficient safety assist technologies (SATs) and inadequate child occupant protection dragged the ultimate rating down.

AA Motoring Services General Manager Stella Stocks says it’s worth noting that while none of the tested vehicles include autonomous emergency braking (AEB) as standard – where brakes are automatically applied if the driver fails to respond quickly to an immediate hazard ahead – she is surprised the safety technology is not present on the Audi TT.

“As new SATs are developed they are usually included on vehicles at the top end of the market. Over time other manufacturers develop the technology for their own offerings. We’ve seen this with the introduction of air bags and electronic stability control for example.

“AEB will follow a similar process and become an expected addition to the suite of SATs on all new vehicles.”

Ms Stocks says technology such as AEB can save lives on our roads.

“I’m looking forward to the day when more mainstream manufacturers start to include the technology as standard to help protect their customers from serious injury or death by minimising or even preventing a crash.”

The Jeep Grand Cherokee has an AEB option on some variants.

Transport Agency Access and Use General Manager Celia Patrick says it is great news for Kiwi motorists that the range of affordable top safety-rated cars is continuing to grow.

"Crash statistics prove that drivers and passengers in five star-rated vehicles are much less likely to be seriously injured in a crash than occupants of lower rated vehicles.

“With today's safety technology, five star ratings are increasingly become the norm and we urge people to buy the safest vehicle they can afford.”

ANCAP is supported by all Australian motoring clubs, the New Zealand Automobile Association, the Australian Government, the New Zealand Government, Australian state and territory governments, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission, NRMA Insurance and the FIA Foundation.

The full list of ANCAP’s vehicle safety ratings, other vehicle safety information and the specifications of the rated vehicles are available online at aa.co.nz or rightcar.govt.nz.

ENDS

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