NCAP and AA reveal crash test results of SA’s popular cars
Today, (Wednesday 22 November 2017) Women on Wheels attended the Global NCAP and the AA’s launch of #SaferCarsforAfrica, and what a lot we learnt! Some pretty shocking statistics came up, reminding us just how much more needs to be done in order to decrease South Africa’s high road accident and fatality statistics…
- Did you know that South Africa has an estimated 832,431 crashes per year?
- Over 3500 people are killed in road crashes around the world every day
- Around 3% of GDP is lost worldwide while road crashes are the leading cause of death in young people
- Low and middle income countries account for 90% of global road deaths and have fatality rates twice that of high income nations
Apart from driver error and factors to do with road infrastructure, Global NCAP and AA today highlighted the importance of safety features in cars, and stated that “we should not have to pay more for safety.”
Affordability vs Safety
While times are tough and many South Africans are left with little to no choice but to opt for the cheapest entry-level cars, the importance of safety is often overlooked. When looking at the market in terms of consumer preference, there is a large number of car buyers who would rather have an affordable car than one with good safety and crash test results. According to News24, 28% of the public feel that crash test results don’t matter when considering their next vehicle purchase.
What is the answer?
Global NCAP and AA South Africa are working hard to create stronger awareness and improved safety standards across the regions and automotive markets of the world today. In 2016 the United Nations General Assembly recognised the importance of NCAP’s role in road safety resolution and adopted NCAP as a catalyst for improving vehicle safety standards.
“I am delighted that Global NCAP is helping to achieve that goal with the launch of the first ever crashworthiness programme for cars sold in Africa. Global NCAP has provided assistance to launch similar programmes in South America, India and the ASEAN region, programmes which have led to the delivery of safer cars into those markets over the last five years,” says Lauchlan McIntosh, Chairman of Global NCAP.
“Ahead of legislation we would urge all auto makers worldwide to voluntarily commit to eliminate the production of zero star cars.”
Crash test results
The models tested included five of South Africa’s most popular cars: the VW Polo, the Datsun Go+, Toyota Etios, Renault Sandero and the Chery QQ3. These five cars make up a combined sales amount of 65% of all new cars sold in South Africa last year.
“Global NCAP chose the entry-level version of each model and as a result one of them was not fitted with airbags as standard. The results highlight differences in the structural integrity of the vehicles tested,” says Global NCAP.
Global NCAP has awarded a separate child safety rating to each car in order to highlight the different levels of protection vehicles provided to passengers on the rear seats. Because the only safe way for young children to travel is properly restrained in a child seat, the assessment checks how compatible the car is with the child seats recommended by the manufacturer, as well as the protection provided in the crash test.
In the assessments, some of the child seats recommended by manufacturers were found to be incompatible with their vehicle’s belt system. In the Polo Vivo, Chery QQ3 and Datsun GO+ there was no three-point seatbelt on the rear centre seats and no way to safely install a child seat or transport a small child safely in that seating position. Only the Toyota Etios and Renault Sandero offer Standard ISOFIX anchorages for the outboard rear positions and three-point seatbelt for all passengers facilitating minimum conditions to safely install a child seat.
Toyota ETIOS (2 airbags)
The Etios achieved a four star rating for adult occupant protection in the frontal crash test at 64km/h. The vehicle structure was rated as stable, offering good general adult occupant protection. The car included seatbelts with pretensioners for both front passengers. Using the child seats recommended by Toyota, the Etios achieved a three star rating for child occupant protection.
Renault SANDERO (2 airbags)
The Sandero achieved a three star rating for adult occupant protection in the frontal crash test at 64km/h. The vehicle structure was rated as stable, offering acceptable general adult occupant protection. The car did not include seatbelt pretensioners. Using the child seats recommended by Renault, the Sandero achieved a four star rating for child occupant protection.
Volkswagen POLO VIVO (2 airbags)
The Polo Vivo achieved a three star rating for adult occupant protection in the frontal crash test at 64km/h. The vehicle structure was rated as stable, offering acceptable adult occupant protection. The car did not include seatbelt pretensioners. Using the child seats recommended by VW, the Polo Vivo achieved a three star rating for child protection.
Datsun GO+ (1 airbag)
The GO+ achieved a one star rating for its poor adult occupant protection mainly in the Driver chest in the frontal crash test at 64km/h. The vehicle structure was rated as unstable, steering wheel movement, even though a steering wheel airbag was fiZed, recorded high compression to the chest of the driver dummy. There was no airbag for the passenger. The Datsun GO+ achieved a two star rating for child occupant protection using the child seats.
Chery QQ3 (no airbags)
The QQ3 achieved a zero star rating for its poor adult occupant protection mainly in driver’s head and chest. The vehicle structure was rated as unstable as showed collapsed in some relevant areas during the impact. Injury impacts recorded in the dummy head and chest in particular led to this result. There were no airbags for the adult passengers. The manufacturer did not recommend specific child seats which explains most of the points loss for child occupant protection. The QQ3 was given a zero star rating for child occupant protection, considering the poor vehicle readiness to safely accommodate the child seats
Three of the five cars tested in Global NCAP crash test. Can you spot which ones they are? #SaferCarsForAfrica pic.twitter.com/3F0wl5OQtS
— Women On Wheels (@WomenWheels) November 22, 2017
Via: Global NCAP and Automobile Association (AA)