My car

it's curtains for safety

Vehicles that have curtain airbags - which protect the head in the event of a crash - should be top of your list when seeking out a new car.

This is the message from ANCAP - the Australian New Car Assessment Program - following the latest crash test results which show that airbag protection for the head is a good protection against serious injury in side impacts with the likes of poles and trees, as well as high vehicles such as 4WDs.

Lauchlan McIntosh, chairman of ANCAP (of which RACV is a partner, along with other state auto clubs and government road safety authorities), says the absence of effective curtain airbags in a vehicle puts the occupants at high risk of a fatal head injury.

"ANCAP would like to see all manufacturers provide dual front, side, chest and head airbags in all models, preferably as standard, but at least as a stand-alone option without being combined with extra items, which increase cost," Mr McIntosh says.

The latest testing, on a range of 4WDs, includes the "pole test" - the vehicle hits a steel pole, lined up with the driver's head, at 29km/h sideways, to measure the effectiveness of head protection side airbags.

"These tests are part of a multi-phase program of differing vehicle classes that includes crossover vehicles such as Territory and Adventra,"

Mr McIntosh says. "While ANCAP will conduct more tests and publish an overall star rating later this year, it was decided to release these results as they show the importance of head protection in 4WDs."

ANCAP also suggests buyers consider other safety devices when choosing a vehicle.

"Research indicates that electronic stability control reduces run-off-road crashes by more than half. This has the indirect benefit of reducing roll-over crashes, which are associated with high levels of injury and fatality.

"ANCAP advises buyers to specify electronic stability control where it is available, particularly on high vehicles such as 4WDs, to minimise the risk of being involved in a crash in the first place."

passing the pole test

This latest release of ANCAP pole crash tests highlights the evolution in how new vehicles are assessed for their levels of occupant protection.

A key aim of ANCAP is to conduct tests that reflect the types of severe crashes occurring on our roads and to provide consumers with meaningful information on how well new vehicles protect their occupants in such crashes.

From time to time, this requires changing the configuration of the crash tests, or adding new ones.

A side crash test was introduced in 1999, because frontal protection levels of new vehicles had improved enough to shift the main focus of protecting vehicle occupants. The ANCAP test where a vehicle was struck at 50km/h by a trolley broadly represented being struck in the side by a small car.

However, the need to consider the effects of a vehicle crashing into a rigid object is highlighted by the sobering fact that 35% of Victorian road fatalities result from side impacts with poles or trees. The subsequent adoption of the 29km/h side pole test served to raise the bar in measuring side-impact protection, as well as to more accurately assess higher-riding vehicles such as 4WDs.

What is also important is the increasing availability of head-protecting side airbags in new cars. Unlike in a front crash, where the occupants are relatively protected well behind the bonnet area and restrained by a seatbelt, in a side impact there is precious little between the occupant and the impact.

So crucial is providing an extra buffer in this space, that research in the U.S. has found the risk of fatality in a side impact is reduced by 45% if a head-protecting side airbag is fitted. This is backed up by the results of ANCAP's pole tests, in which the presence of this type of airbag is a pre-requisite for a realistic chance of survival, even at the relatively slow speed of 29km/h.

RACV advises new car buyers to select a model with an ANCAP crash test result of at least four stars, and one which is fitted with head-protecting side airbags. The full results and further information on ANCAP are available on the RACV website, www.racv.com.au.