Honda Jazz ticks ANCAP safety boxes with 5-star rating

The 2014 Honda Jazz.

More accolades for the compact Honda Jazz following on from success in its category at the New Zealand Car of the Year awards last month.

The latest 2014 Honda Jazz has received a 5 star Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (ANCAP) safety rating, maintaining the high standard set by previous versions of the car in recent years.

This rating is also the first issued by ANCAP determined using crash test data from the recently formed South East Asian New Car Assessment Programme, ASEAN NCAP.

AA Communications Manager Liam Baldwin says while ANCAP has used shared crash data with Euro NCAP for about 15 years, the rating for the Honda Jazz is a first in terms of a similar arrangement with ASEAN NCAP, which was set up the by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research and the Global NCAP programme. It's supported by membership of automobile associations in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.

"ANCAP has supported the establishment for ASEAN NCAP and continues to provide mentoring of its test programme which has grown since the organisation was formed in 2012," Mr Baldwin says.

"That ANCAP is using the data provided by ASEAN NCAP proves the quality of the testing programme there. The value of data sharing will be proven as more vehicles from Southeast Asia manufacturers and manufacturing plants based in the region enter the New Zealand market in years to come."

All variants of the Honda Jazz from July 2014 include a full suite of airbags as standard, antilock brakes (ABS), electronic brake distribution (EBD) and electronic stability control (ESC). Advance seat belt reminders are fitted to all seats.

NZ Transport Agency Group Manager Access and Use Celia Patrick says it is pleasing to see vehicle manufacturers continuing to raise the bar for safety, as the advanced safety features like those offered by the Honda Jazz are potential lifesavers.

"We're aiming for a truly safe transport system that is more forgiving of human error, so no-one pays with their life when a driver makes a mistake, and safer vehicles are a key part of a safe system. Multiple airbag packages can prevent serious injuries in a crash, and active safety features like ABS, EBD and ESC can prevent many crashes from happening in the first place."

The Honda Jazz performed well in the frontal offset crash test with acceptable occupant protection all found. Driver head protection in the side impact test and side pole test was good.

The Honda Jazz was awarded Best Compact Car at the New Zealand Car of the Year Award event in December last year, hosted by the AA and the New Zealand Motoring Writers' Guild. It was also ranked highly in a people's choice award run by the AA.

-AA