Understanding car safety

It’s well known that driving can be dangerous. Thankfully, new technologies and innovations in manufacturing are constantly evolving to improve car safety. When looking for your next car, it’s important to know the baseline of safety, and what models are the safest on our roads.

The answer is the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP). You may have heard of ANCAP ratings before. These star ratings represent how well (or how poorly) a car has performed on a series of independent safety tests. The more stars a car gets, the safer it is seen to be.

What makes a car safe?

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ANCAP ratings are highest for cars with good structural integrity and a full safety system. Here’s a breakdown of what that means:

Structural integrity

Full safety system

This is a catch-all term for the following safety features:

• Airbags – airbags come in a variety of configurations. For maximum safety, you’ll want front (to protect the driver and front-passengers who are propelled forward), side (to protect the head and torso in side impacts), curtain (deploy over the windows to further protect the head) and knee airbags (to protect the driver from the steering column and dash).
   
• Anti-lock braking system (ABS) – ABS prevents your wheels from locking up, even when brakes are applied suddenly (like when reacting to a hazard). Lost traction is reduced, which means you remain in control, especially in wet conditions.
   
• Electronic stability control - Electronic stability control works with ABS to increase driver safety. It monitors each wheel separately and intervenes when it senses a discord between what the driver is doing with the steering wheel, and what the wheels are doing on the road. Again, this system is all about preventing a loss of traction.
   
• Seat belts and restraints - The number of road fatalities that could potentially have been avoided by wearing a seatbelt is staggering—and tragic. Almost 20% of deaths on the road involve someone not wearing a seatbelt. The key points to remember with restraints are that across-the-body sash-style belts are far superior to lap belts, and children should be specifically fitted with child restraints.