KEY POINTS:
New cars are getting safer for drivers and passengers but new ratings show pedestrians are as vulnerable as ever.
Independent car testers the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (Ancap) released safety ratings for seven new cars yesterday.
The Holden Commodore Omega became the second Australasian-made car after the Ford Falcon XT to achieve the top five-star rating for protecting its occupants - but when it came to protecting pedestrians, it managed just one star out of four.
Of the six other cars, two - the Nissan Navara and the 4WD Isuzu D-Max utility - scored one star for pedestrian safety. The Honda Jazz was the least deadly for pedestrians, scoring three stars.
Ancap chairman Lauchlan McIntosh said Australasian car manufacturers were lagging when it came to safety. European cars regularly scored five stars for occupant safety, and Sweden made it through the bulk of this year without a single child dying on its roads. He wants all new cars to carry a compulsory sticker telling buyers how safe they are.
Ancap communications group chairman Jack Haley said poor results for pedestrian safety were a combination of vehicle manufacturers not taking pedestrian safety seriously, the high cost of redesigning a car to make it safer for pedestrians, and car buyers not making pedestrian safety a priority.
But Mr Haley said that while it cost "millions" to redesign a car's shape, Citroen and Subaru had shown it was possible to make a car worthy of the maximum four-star pedestrian safety rating.
Citroen's new C6 model senses when the car hits a pedestrian and lifts the bonnet to act as a basket for the hit pedestrian, softening their landing.
The Subaru Impreza was made with a pedestrian-friendly curved bonnet, specifically designed to win four stars from Ancap.
"You'd much rather step out in front of a Citroen C6 than a Holden Commodore," said Mr Haley.
In the latest tests, the Ford Falcon Ute and Honda Jazz received four stars for occupant safety. The Nissan Micra, Nissan Navara D22 and Isuzu D-Max 2WD and 4WD received three stars. Each star increases the drivers' and passengers' chances of surviving by about 10 per cent.
Mr McIntosh said all cars should be able to get a five-star rating with today's technology. A three-star rating was disappointing in a new car and "not good enough for consumers".
He said the fastest way to get more safety features into cars was pressure from buyers.
As for the argument that there will always be drunks and unsafe drivers on the road, Mr McIntosh says this makes no difference to Ancap's message. "We should make the environment safe so that irrespective of how stupid you are no one will die."
Ratings
* Holden Omega Commodore 5 star: Pedestrian safety 1 star.
* Ford Falcon Ute 4 star: Pedestrian safety 2 stars.
* Honda Jazz 4 star: Pedestrian safety 3 stars.
* Nissan Micra 3 star: Pedestrian safety 2 stars.
* Nissan Navara D22 4WD 3 star: Pedestrian safety 1 star.
* Isuzu D-Max 4WD and 2WD 3 stars: Pedestrian safety 1 star for 4wd, 2wd not listed.
-Occupant ratings are out of 5, pedestrian ratings are out of 4.
