Update Alerts
Update Alerts
Anne is a student studying a Bachelor of Nursing at university. She lives with her boyfriend, enjoys hanging out with her friends over coffee and binge-watching her favourite series on TV.
To get around, she drives her much-loved 1998 model hatchback – handed down to her from her grandma.
Michael lives with his wife and three-year-old son. He works at an accounting firm and dabbles in some backyard cricket on the weekend.
To get where he needs to go, and transport his family, he drives a 2015 model hatch.
Anne’s car, while mechanically reliable, is now 20 years old. A lot has changed since then. Anne’s car not only lacked safety features like anti-lock brakes (ABS) and electronic stability control (ESC) - its airbag count was zero. Not even one for the driver. Perhaps more importantly, the structure of her 1998 model was not designed to protect.
View the technical report.
Michael’s car is not new, but it’s far newer than Anne’s. As standard, it had dual frontal airbags, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting airbags and a driver knee airbag. Seat belt pre-tensioners were also fitted to the front seats, as was ABS and ESC. The structure of his 2015 model was also far superior and purposely designed to protect in a crash.
View the technical report.
Unfortunately, due to the age and lack of safety features in Anne’s car, she did not survive the crash.
Michael on the other hand, was able to open his car door as normal and walk away – looking back to the car that saved his life.
Older vehicles (those built 2001 or earlier) are over-represented in fatal vehicle crashes.
Those older vehicles account for 20% of all currently registered vehicles on our roads, but are involved in 36% of fatalities.
In contrast, newer vehicles (those built between 2012 and 2017) account for 31% of the fleet, but are involved in just 12% of fatalities.
Have you considered the safety of your car?
With vehicle age and relative safety being one of the key contributors to road fatalities, safer vehicle choices can have a significant effect on survivability in a crash.
A ‘mistake’ on the road – whether it be yours or someone else’s – can be fatal, so making a safer vehicle choice when buying or riding in a car could mean the difference between life and death.
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