KEY POINTS:
Small and medium cars outrank their larger counterparts for saving lives in an accident, according to a new study of used-car safety.
The 2008 Used Car Safety Ratings report on New Zealand and Australian used cars gave only one large car, the 2002-2006 model Holden Commodore, the top safety rating of "significantly better than average".
Nine small cars and eight medium-sized cars received the top ranking, while light cars and utes failed to get any models in the top category.
A study released today by Land Transport New Zealand (LTNZ) and the AA used data from more than three million road crashes to rate how well cars protected their occupants, occupants of other vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. The Monash University Accident Research Centre study gave each car one of five rankings - significantly better than average, better than average, average, worse than average, and significantly worse than average.
Most of the best performers were small and medium-sized vehicles manufactured after 1995. Small and light cars dominated the worst rankings, along with vans.
LTNZ media manager Andy Knackstedt said newer cars were generally safer than older ones, as manufacturers improved their safety features over time. For those in the market for a used car, it was possible to buy some of the safest vehicles on the list for less than $5000.
LTNZ vehicles manager Don Hutchinson said the results of the study could be used to buy a smaller, less expensive car without compromising on safety. Sales figures for new cars show people are increasingly choosing to buy smaller cars as petrol prices push up the cost of driving larger models.
AA general manager of technical service Stella Stocks said it was encouraging that many of the better-performing vehicles were small or medium sized. However she said the poor safety ratings of large four-wheel drives and light commercial vehicles were a concern, given that these vehicles continued to be popular. Very few commercial vehicles and large four-wheel drives scored well on safety, due to the danger they posed to other road users in a crash.
Previous years' ratings have used separate assessments to score how well each vehicle protected its occupants, and how likely it was to harm others in a crash. The 2008 results combine the two measurements to arrive at a single safety rating.
www.landtransport.govt.nz
www.aa.co.nz
