Mercedes-Benz Vito gets four stars

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The drivers' legs are no longer exposed to serious injury in a frontal crash in Benz's Vito van.
Graham Smith
Contributing Journalist
23 Apr 2009
1 min read

Previously it was only the VW Transporter and Caddy that had the four-star rating, the top safety rating so far achieved by vans in Australia, but the 'Benz van has joined them and can now also claim to be the safest van in the land.

While other vans leave their drivers' legs exposed to serious injury in a frontal crash VW and Mercedes have managed to minimise that risk.

"These 4-star vans demonstrate this type of vehicle can be designed to minimise leg injury," says ANCAP Chair, Lauchlan McIntosh.

While VW and Mercedes are setting the safety pace the Mitsubishi Express languishes at the other end of the field with a single star against its badge.

Graham Smith
Contributing Journalist
With a passion for cars dating back to his childhood and having a qualification in mechanical engineering, Graham couldn’t believe his good fortune when he was offered a job in the Engineering Department at General Motors-Holden’s in the late-1960s when the Kingswood was king and Toyota was an upstart newcomer. It was a dream come true. Over the next 20 years Graham worked in a range of test and development roles within GMH’s Experimental Engineering Department, at the Lang Lang Proving Ground, and the Engine Development Group where he predominantly worked on the six-cylinder and V8 engines. If working for Holden wasn’t exciting enough he also spent two years studying General Motors Institute in America, with work stints with the Chassis Engineering section at Pontiac, and later took up the post of Holden’s liaison engineer at Opel in Germany. But the lure of working in the media saw him become a fulltime motorsport reporter and photographer in the late-1980s following the Grand Prix trail around the world and covering major world motor racing events from bases first in Germany and then London. After returning home to Australia in the late-1980s Graham worked on numerous motoring magazines and newspapers writing about new and used cars, and issues concerning car owners. These days, Graham is CarsGuide's longest standing contributor.
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