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The crash test results have once again highlighted the difference in the safety standards of the vehicles available in South Africa compared to other markets.
The latest crash test results for the Great Wall Motors (GWM) Steed 5 pickup truck, the Haval H1 five-door sport utility vehicle, and the Renault Kwid five-door raised serious concerns about low levels of protection for adults and children. when the Global New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and the South African Automobile Association (AA), with the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies and the FIA Foundation, released the fourth round of #SaferCarsForAfrica crash test results on Thursday.
Global NCAP Secretary General Alejandro Furas said the GWM Steed 5 had a “zero star rating”, and that both the Haval H1 and Renault Kwid earned ratings of two stars for adults and two stars for child occupants.
“The potential for life-threatening injuries in the Steed 5 follows the zero-star performance of the Nissan Hardbody pickup. The contrast between the marketing claims of such vehicles and the reality of their poor safety performance could not be more stark, “he said.
Towards Zero Foundation President David Ward said it is a worrying set of results for the safety of adult and child occupants in these popular African cars, adding that the zero rating for the GWM Steed 5 “should ring the bells. alarms for any consumer considering the purchase of a Steed 5 ”truck.
The foundation serves as a platform for cooperation between organizations committed to preventing traffic accidents.
Ward said that from the foundation’s global perspective, with successful crash test programs in India and Latin America, it could track the various specifications of auto safety equipment manufactured in one market and sold in others.
“It is therefore surprising to note that the Renault Kwid developed for Latin America, based on the original Indian version, has better occupant protection performance for adults and children, includes standard ISOFIX anchors, as well as dual front and side airbags. “, said.
Safety classification labeling
Furas made a new call to the government on Thursday to make vehicle safety classification labeling a mandatory requirement.
He said that if a fleet manager or fleet buying agent decides to require a vehicle with a higher star rating, “that can change the rules of the game for the entire market very quickly.”
AA CEO Willem Groenewald added that if the safety standard could be set on vehicles from a regulatory perspective, public awareness could be raised and consumer behavior would by default alter business behavior.
Global NCAP’s #SaferCarsForAfrica campaign with AA aims to raise public awareness of vehicle safety standards. The campaign was launched by Global NCAP in 2017 with the aim of promoting safer vehicles in Africa.
Furas said Global NCAP believes that there should be no difference between the safety ratings of vehicle models that are available in Africa and other markets.
“We should get the same levels of safety and safety performance in cars as consumers in Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan of any model. That is our philosophy, ”he said.
Furas emphasized that the Global NCAP test exceeds the standards required for regulatory testing.
“We do not criticize at all that the manufacturers do not comply with the requirements. They are complying with the required regulations in South Africa, otherwise it will not be legal to sell them. ”
However, Furas said that from a safety standards perspective, the South African government is not adequately monitoring the regulations and there may be certain cases where manufacturers are “probably not inadvertently complying with those standards.”
“We are testing performance, so we don’t care how many airbags are in the car, we don’t care where the car is produced, we don’t care about the price, we don’t care about the manufacturer.
“We only test one car and we have to make sure the people inside are protected. So the better protection you have for people inside, the better star rating the vehicle will get, ”Ward said.
He said it is important to note that the Global NCAP frontal crash test is performed at 64km / h, while the speed for regulation speed is less than 56km / h.
He stressed that the regulatory test is “just a minimal pass or fail test,” while the Global NCAP test is trying to measure the different performances and compare those performances between manufacturers.
Ward said 64km / h is the speed most NCAPs use because it also tries to focus on the causes of the deadliest high-speed injuries.
“From the tests we just did, the Renault Kwid and Haval H1 certainly passed the basic crash test. It is most questionable about the Great Wall. [Steed 5] because we test faster, ”he said.
Watch the crash test movie here:
For crash test results, visit AA’s site here.
Fall on deaf ears?
Groenewald said AA has been calling for an improvement in vehicle safety standards set by the government since the first results of the #SaferCarsforAfrica program were released in 2017.
“We have spoken with the National Mandatory Standards Regulator about the standards and while the evidence is clear, we are eager to see a move in this regard.
“Action is needed, and it is needed now because it is about protecting South African citizens,” Groenewald said.
Attempts to obtain comment from the South African National Automobile Manufacturers Association were unsuccessful.
The national president of the National Association of Automobile Dealers, Mark Dommisse, said consumers should research the safety ratings of the vehicle they are considering buying.
Dommisse said there are cars in South Africa that have very low safety ratings, but they are nearing the end of their life cycle and “newer ones are better.”
He added that there is merit in considering vehicle safety classification labeling on vehicles.
