Regulations , ,

James Goodwin

James Goodwin

THE rapid advances in safety technology in recent years means not all five-star vehicles are equal, and fleet managers have been warned to be diligent when buying vehicles for their employees.

According to Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) chief executive James Goodwin, a vehicle granted a maximum crash rating five or six years ago will likely be inferior to a new model rated at five stars.

Mr Goodwin was addressing a recent professional development forum in Victoria for the Australasian Fleet Managers Association where he told fleet managers that it was no longer sufficient to simply look at a car with a five-star rating.

He said it was now necessary for buyers to also look at the year in which the rating test was conducted.

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A car with a five-star rating from 2012 was likely to be not as safe as a car with a maximum rating from 2015, he said. ANCAP now provides a “date stamp” with every rating.

Fleet managers should incorporate the date stamp into their buying policies by making sure they do not buy a five-star car that was tested more than three years previously, Mr Goodwin said.

“In 2016, if you buy a five-star car tested in 2013, we are suggesting it is getting a bit smelly. And it’s a rolling three-year period, so in 2017 don’t buy anything tested before 2014,” he said.

Furthermore, he warned that there would be a major change in the rating system from 2018, when the Australasian and European assessment programs will be brought into line. Some of the crash tests will be changed and the program will assess child occupant safety for the first time.

Another significant element in the harmonisation with Europe will be an increased emphasis on crash avoidance technology and the use of autonomous functions like lane keeping and adaptive cruise control.

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From 2018 it will be impossible to earn a five-star safety rating unless the vehicle is fitted with autonomous emergency braking, Mr Goodwin said, and the rapidly improving crashworthiness of new cars had led to a surprising situation.

“We have now reached the problem where there are too many five-star cars,” he said. “How do we deal with that?

“We have introduced a date stamp. Look for five stars, but also look for what year the car was tested.”

He said a fleet manager looking for a light car might come up with a short list of five-star cars including a Volkswagen Polo tested in 2011, a Honda Civic tested in 2014 and a Holden Spark tested in 2016.

“We suggest you look at the date stamp as the deciding factor,” Mr Goodwin said.

By Ian Porter

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