In Australia, a study was recently conducted to rate the safety of cars from years past. The study was undertaken to give consumers who are looking to buy second hand cars adequate information as to the safety of a certain vehicle. With numerous cars aged more than ten years on Australian roads, the study will be helping consumers decide which second-hand car can protect the adequately in the unfortunate event of a crash.
According to Australia's Herald Sun, the gap in terms of the crashworthiness of the safest old car and the worst is significantly wide. The study found out that the Daihatsu Hi-Jet from 1982 to 1990 is the worst of the lot. The safest in the group is the Volkswagen Passat from 1998 until 2005. According to the study, motorists are 26 times more likely to be fatally injured in the Hi-Jet than in the Passat.
Alarmingly, the study found out that of the 279 cars that they have tested, 48 are potential risks to the life of car occupants. These vehicles are not the usually obscure makes but these are popular vehicles making the result of the study more alarming. These 48 cars were rated "much worse than average". The study involved 2.8 million cars which were involved in an accident in Australia and in New Zealand from 1987 to 2005.
These vehicles are a serious threat to the safety of motorists. While buying second hand cars that are still in very good condition may be a good choice for consumers, the fact that many old cars are unsafe, it is a risk that customers need to be warned about.
Michael Case, the RACV chief engineer, has this to say as to the importance of the study: "A lot of people, when they look to purchase a car, are influenced by a wide range of things... But what happens when the vehicle is involved in a crash? You can't see how the vehicle is going to perform when you are in the showroom or the used car yard."
The study did not only focus on the safety of car occupants in the event of a crash but also took into account the safety of other motorists. Unlike modern cars which are designed to absorb more energy from a collision, old cars have solid bumpers which can seriously hurt the occupants of anther car.
The result of the study is a huge boost to Volkswagen popularity in the territory. Not only does the largest European automaker show that their and airbags make their new cars safer but they have also proven that they have been making safe cars in the past.
Aside from the best-rated Passat, other notable Volkswagen auto models which are rated above average are the Volkswagen Bora and Golf. Versions of these cars from 1999 to 2004 are highly rated in terms of safety. In contrast, the Mitsubishi Cordia made from 1983 to 1987 are considered to have below average crashworthiness.
The below par performance of about one of six old cars is showing that not all solid cars are safe. Not only that, the study also found out that the price tag on the cars does not necessarily translate to safety. There are expensive cars which performed poorly compared to relatively cheaper cars.
"We are seeing a number of small cars, which are $10,000 or under, performing very well in terms of both their occupant protection and their collision partner protection," said Dr. Stuart Newstead, a senior researcher at the Monash University Accident Research Centre.
