Revised 1 August 2008

2008 Used Car Safety Ratings fact sheet

Why have the Used Car Safety Ratings been produced?

If all vehicles of a particular type were designed and made to be equivalent to the safest model of that type, the number of fatal and disabling crash injuries could be significantly reduced.

These ratings are produced to help people in the market who are buying a used car identify the safest models. Armed with this information, consumers can place pressure on importers and dealers to encourage them to sell and promote safer vehicles.

The publication over the last decade of occupant protection ratings for new cars, namely the Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), has resulted in improvements to the safety features of many new vehicle models. Manufacturers even use good ANCAP ratings in their advertisements.

These ratings are expected to have a similar influence on used car dealers, encouraging them to stock the best-rated models in response to the consumer demand.

People are encouraged to use these ratings to help them choose the safest possible car for the money they have available.

If all vehicle designs were equivalent to the safest model, the number of fatal and disabling crash injuries could be significantly reduced. Safety designs that may significantly reduce risk of death or injury include: crumple zones, collapsible steering columns, reinforced door frames, front, side and curtain airbags, and seat belts designed to work with airbags.

How were the 2008 Used Car Safety Ratings calculated?

Records from over 3.2 million police-reported road crashes in New Zealand and Australia between 1986 and 2006 were analysed by the Monash University Accident Research Centre.

Ratings on protection to drivers and harm to other road users were calculated using an internationally reviewed method. The ratings are influenced by the vehicle mass, the structural design of the vehicle body, and the safety features such as airbags and types of seatbelts in the vehicle.

There are 349 vehicle models with ratings for protection to drivers and other road users. These cover most of the popular vehicles in the Australian and New Zealand vehicle fleets.

What types of vehicles are included in the ratings?

These ratings are for light passenger vehicles. The rated vehicles have been classified into 10 categories, comprising 4 categories of regular passenger car, 3 categories of Four-Wheel-Drive (4WD) vehicle (including Sports Utility Vehicles), 2 categories of light commercial vehicle, and 1 category of people movers.

How accurate are the ratings in predicting how safe a vehicle will be in a crash?

As these ratings are statistically calculated from the outcomes of actual crashes, the more often a particular vehicle model is involved in a crash, the more accurate will be the rating for that vehicle.  That means that, in general, the ratings for more common and/or older vehicles may be more accurate than ratings for newer and/or less common models.

The rating category given to a vehicle reflects the estimated average death or serious injury as well as the level of statistical confidence in the estimate. Some vehicles score in the average rating category because of limited real world crash experience and hence limited statistical confidence in the rating estimate. These tend to be late vehicle models that have only been on sale for a short time before the end of the data period on which the ratings are based.

Ratings for these vehicles are likely to change in future updates as more crash data become available. Average ratings for late model vehicles can often indicate a lack of sufficient statistical precision to categorize the vehicle as better or worse than average. Those vehicles that are classified in the better or worse or significantly better or worse than average categories have a high degree of statistical confidence that their true safety performance lies in these ranges.

Any vehicle safety rating system can only provide an indication of how much protection a vehicle is likely to offer a driver in the event of a crash, or how much harm it is likely to cause the driver of another vehicle.  Whether or not death or serious injury results also depends on how safely the vehicle is driven and the particular circumstances of the crash.

What’s the difference between these ratings and the New Car Safety Ratings?

New car safety ratings (eg ANCAP) are determined by crash testing vehicles in a controlled laboratory setting while the used car safety ratings are calculated using data from police reports on actual crashes. Research shows that the two ratings systems correlated well overall. However, the results should not be compared directly because the different sources of the ratings can lead to differences in the assessment of some vehicles.

Any vehicle safety rating system can only provide an indication of the relative levels of protection between vehicles you can expect in the event of a crash. Whether or not you die or are seriously injured in a crash also depends on how safely you drive your vehicle.

How do the Australian and New Zealand vehicle fleets rate for safety compared with fleets from other countries?

These ratings compare vehicles with the rest of the vehicle fleet, not against an objective standard.  That means that there will always be vehicles that rate better or worse than average.  Therefore, it is not possible to objectively assess, from these ratings, the overall safety standard of the New Zealand or Australian vehicle fleets. They have not been compared with vehicle fleets from other countries for the same reason.

But aren't some vehicles likely to rate poorly because of the types of people that drive them or where they are driven?

This was taken into account as much as possible when the data was analysed. The ratings measure how well the vehicle protected people involved in the crash. They factor out, as much as possible, effects not related to the vehicle such as the age and gender of people involved in the crash or where the crash occurred.

What should people do if the vehicle they currently drive is rated poorly?

Crashes in even the best-rated vehicles can still result in serious injury or death to the driver. The best protection against injury is to drive safely and encourage other road users to drive safely. When people are ready to buy another vehicle, they should take these ratings into account and consider choosing one of the best-rated models.

What should people do if they can’t afford one of the best-rated vehicles?

On average, newer models provide their occupants with stronger protection in a crash but a number of less expensive models to rate well. People should work out what they can afford to spend on a used car and consider choosing one of the best-rated vehicles that their budget allows.

Why aren’t vehicles that are rated poorly taken off the road?

These ratings rate vehicles against each other, not against an objective standard. This means that there will always be vehicles that are rated average, above average and below average. So, although some vehicle models offer better protection to drivers in a crash than others, this does not mean that the less safe models are dangerous to the extent they should be taken off the roads. All vehicles must meet local design standards for safety before they can be made available for sale.

Some vehicles that rate well in these results are not able to be imported into New Zealand.  Why?

Some of the vehicles in these ratings may not meet certain New Zealand vehicle safety standards, such as the frontal impact standard introduced in 2002.  These must be met before a vehicle can be registered for the road in New Zealand.  These vehicles can’t be registered for the road if imported today but if they are already on the register can continue to be licensed and operated. 

Therefore, while these ratings provide a useful guide to consumers, they should not be relied on as a means of determining if a newly imported vehicle will be able to be registered for the road.

What is the Monash University Accident Research Centre?

The Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) has been conducting research into issues relating to vehicle safety for over 15 years.

It began developing consumer advice on vehicle safety based on mass crash data in 1990. The same year, the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) and National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) independently set out on a joint project to develop a car safety rating system based on police records of crashes.   By 1991 they had produced a relative ranking of vehicles.

In mid 1991, the two groups began to work together and combine their data into one vehicle safety rating system.  The Used Car Safety Ratings brochure, which has been produced periodically since 1992, resulted from that work.