11 June 2009

AUSTRALIA MISSING OUT ON LIFE-SAVING TECHNOLOGIES
Australians are being short-changed on safety features included in overseas manufactured vehicles, according to the latest crash tests performed by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).
The latest round of safety ratings highlight that the Honda Jazz and Kia Soul have missed out on achieving five-star ratings simply because they don’t have the potentially life-saving technologies that are available on equivalent models overseas.
AANT Technical Manager, Mark Borlace, said that the missing safety features are imperative to earning the extra ANCAP star.
“Both the Honda Jazz and Kia Soul European models come with electronic stability control (ESC) and intelligent seatbelt reminders for all seats, however, ESC is not available on any Honda Jazz model in Australia and the base model only has a driver seatbelt reminder,” Mr Borlace said.
“The Kia Soul base model available in Australia also has only a driver seatbelt reminder and no ESC, while in contrast, the Kia Soul base model available in New Zealand has all of these features and earnt a top five-star rating from ANCAP.”
Based on crash tests conducted by EuroNCAP, the Audi Q5 and Skoda Superb earned five-star ratings, however like the Jazz and Soul, the Kia Cerato and Suzuki Alto only achieved four-star ratings.
The Audi Q5 and Skoda Superb earned 5-star ratings, based on crash tests conducted by EuroNCAP, however like the Jazz and Soul, the Kia Cerato and Suzuki Alto only achieved 4-star ratings.
“Both vehicles have impressive safety features, however need more work on leg protection and lack seatbelt reminders for front and rear passenger seats,” Mr Borlace said.
“Even though Australia has a generally high seatbelt wearing rate, passengers not wearing seatbelts are over-represented in road fatalities and seatbelt reminders are a simple device that act as a very effective countermeasure.”
“Despite the latest crash test results, there are plenty of choices for five-star safety for cars available in Australia, with some models available for under $20,000.” ANCAP is supported by all Australian and New Zealand motoring clubs, all Australian State governments, the New Zealand government and the FIA Foundation. For a full list of ANCAP’s vehicle safety ratings and other vehicle safety information, go to www.ancap.com.au

Contact: Mark Borlace, AANT Technical Manager, (08) 8202 4682 or 0419 828 844