Unsafest cars on the road revealed
Analysis of road crash statistics has revealed Australia’s least safe cars, showing that several small hatchbacks – cars typically favoured by older Australians and P-platers – are moving death traps.
Several small hatchbacks, such as older versions of the Suzuki Swift, Ford Fiesta, Holden Barina, Mazda2, Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Getz, Toyota Echo and Kia Rio, were rated “very poor” in the latest TAC Used Car Safety Ratings Buyer’s Guide. All these cars scored just one star out of five for safety.
Older models of the country’s best-selling car, the Toyota Corolla (2002-2007), scored two stars, while its rival, the popular Mitsubishi Lancer, scored just one.
High-end cars typically scored better.
The BMW 1 Series and Audi A3 from 2003-14 and later models of the VW Golf (13-16) were all rated five stars.
However, some cheaper mainstream cars also performed quite well, with Ford Focus (09-12), Hyundai i30 (07-12), Subaru Impreza (07-16) and Holden Cruze (09-16) all scoring four stars.
And while luxury cars topped the rankings for sedans, the Ford Mondeo (07-15), Subaru Liberty/Outback (09-14), Volkswagen Passat (06-15) and Toyota Camry (11-16) each scored five stars.
Late model Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores scored five stars, but earlier model Commodores (built prior to 2007) scored only two stars.
SUVs were deemed the safest vehicles, with 20 models scoring five stars. Only one SUV, the RAV4 from 1994-2000, scored one star.
Although SUVs, utes and large sedans scored highest, RACQ’s head of technical and safety policy, Steve Spalding, says that bigger vehicles aren’t necessarily the safest choice for many drivers.
“An F-Series [Ford SUV] is clearly an inappropriate choice for an inexperienced driver,” he said.
“Higher riding four-wheel-drives can be quite unstable and produce tragic outcomes in terms of spinal injuries from rollovers.
“People should always buy the safest car they can afford. We’d recommend a four or five-star rating from the guide,” he said.
He warned of the hazards of driving an older car. Cars built before 2000 make up 20 per cent of the total cars on the road but are involved in 33 per cent of all crashes. He also said there could be a ten-fold increase in the risk of serious injury and death between the best and worst used cars on the road.
How old is your car? Do you know if it is safe? Would you drive an SUV just because you were told it was safest? Or would you stick to a car that is comfortable for you to drive, and practice better road sense instead?
i bought a second hand mazda supposedly the car dealer did a road worthy I found the engine mounts were rusted and cant remember what else, its not always the make of car thats the problem