Safest new cars of 2022 revealed!

The safest new cars that went on sale in Australia in 2022 have been announced, with three cars awarded best overall safety and others ranking highly in specific criteria.

According to the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) , the Tesla Model Y took out top marks for 2022, with the electric SUV scoring an overall rating of 92.6 per cent thanks to its holistic safety system that monitors its surroundings closely.

This allowed it to score 98 per cent in the Safety Assist (i.e, active safety and collision avoidance) category, the highest of any car tested by ANCAP. It also topped the class for Adult Occupant Protection, scoring 97 per cent.

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Second in line for 2022 is the new Lexus NX at 89.2 per cent, which despite not taking out the highest score in any category, scored consistently high marks across the four fields, Adult and Child Occupant Protection (91 and 89 per cent respectively), Safety Assist (92 per cent), and Vulnerable Road User Protection (83 per cent).

Third on the ANCAP ‘safest cars of 2022’ list is the LDV Mifa and Mifa 9 pair of people movers, which scored the same across both petrol and electric car versions at 87.4 per cent.

ANCAP also specifies which other vehicles were awarded top marks in specific categories, with the Ford Ranger and its Everest sibling, as well as the Nissan Qashqai and Nissan Pathfinder all scoring the same tied-for-first rating in Child Occupant Protection with 93 per cent.

With the Tesla Model Y performing so well in Safety Assist and Adult Occupant Protection, the only category left to be ‘won’ is Vulnerable Road User Protection, which determines how dangerous the car would be to cyclists and pedestrians.

The new Toyota Corolla Cross scored 87 per cent for this category, one which is difficult to score broadly well in due to the inherent danger cars pose to other road users.

Over the last three years, with 69 vehicles tested, ANCAP has only awarded a few cars any less than five stars - all four, in fact, with the most recent and relevant to Australia (as some are for NZ only), is the Honda HR-V.

For Child Occupant Protection and Safety Assist, the HR-V was given relatively low marks: 77 per cent and 69 per cent respectively.

In a statement, ANCAP estimates its program and messaging around automotive safety has resulted in a dramatic decrease in death and injury on Australian roads.

“ANCAP’s encouragement of autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assist, and centre  airbag technologies is conservatively estimated to have contributed to 22 fewer fatalities and 571 serious injuries on Australian roads over the period 2019-2021.”