Car safety ratings guide

One of the most important factors that influence your decision when buying a new car is how safe it is, and luckily for drivers across the world (including here in Australia), there is a safety rating score which tells us exactly how safe a vehicle is before we buy it. The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) rates cars from 1 to 5 in terms of safety, with a 5-star rating the highest available.

If you’re buying a new vehicle and want to know what level of protection that car would offer in a collision, the ANCAP safety rating provides an easy-to-understand guideline to use as a point of comparison.

What is ANCAP?

ANCAP is Australasia's leading independent vehicle safety advocate. It aims to provide consumers with transparent advice and information about the safety levels of new passenger and light commercial vehicles. Since 1993, ANCAP has published crash test results for more than 590 vehicles sold throughout Australia and New Zealand.

ANCAP’s vision is: “To eliminate road trauma through the testing and promotion of safer vehicles”.

It works in partnership with the following organisations to deliver safety information and ratings to Australian and New Zealand drivers:

• Australian and New Zealand automobile clubs
• Australian Federal, State and Territory governments
• The New Zealand Government
• The Victorian Transport Accident Commission
• The Insurance Australia Group
• The FIA Foundation (UK).

What are safety ratings?

ANCAP conducts crash tests on new passenger and light commercial vehicles entering the Australian and New Zealand markets, with each model’s safety levels assessed under identical testing standards and conditions. Using results from these tests, ANCAP publishes safety ratings using a rating system from 1 to 5 stars, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.

ANCAP safety ratings take into account the level of protection for drivers, front-seat passengers, and pedestrians involved in the most common types of crashes, as well as the inclusion of safety features and technologies in new vehicles. The ratings are used to compare vehicles in the same category (small car vs small car, large car vs large car, SUV vs SUV, etc.) and are not used to compare vehicles across different categories.

To receive the maximum 5-star ANCAP safety rating, a vehicle must achieve the highest standards in all crash tests and also feature advanced safety assist technologies.

What does the crash testing process involve?

ANCAP uses a number of internationally recognised crash tests and safety assessments carried out by independent specialist laboratories. These tests are designed to mimic the most common real-world crashes, and dummies are used to scientifically measure the forces on occupants and pedestrians when such crashes occur.

New vehicles are put through the following five tests:

• Frontal offset test. This test is designed to simulate hitting another vehicle of the same mass travelling at the same speed. It is conducted by crashing 40% of the car, on the driver’s side, into a crushable aluminium barrier at 64 km/h. Two adult-sized dummies are located in the front seats, while dummies the size of 18-month and 3-year-old children sit in appropriate restraints in the back.
• Side impact test. Designed to simulate two cars colliding at 90 degrees, the side impact test is carried out by ramming a 1,300kg trolley with a crushable aluminium face into the side of the test car at 50 km/h.
• Full-width test. This is designed to simulate a head-on crash with another car travelling at the same speed. The test vehicle, which carries two adult dummies, travels at 50km/h into a solid wall with no deformable barrier.
• Pedestrian test. This test simulates a pedestrian being hit by an oncoming vehicle and is used to assess the potential head and neck injuries to child and adult pedestrians when hit by the test car at a speed of 40 km/h.
• Oblique pole test. This test is designed to simulate an accident where a car crashes into a fixed object, such as a tree or pole. It’s conducted by propelling the test car sideways at a speed of 32 km/h at a 75-degree angle into a rigid pole aligned with the driver’s head.
• Whiplash test. Designed to assess head and neck injuries resulting from a rear-impact collision, this test sees the car’s seat mounted to a test sled. The sled is then propelled forward to simulate a stationary vehicle being hit from behind at 16 km/h.

ANCAP car safety ratings explained

The higher the ANCAP safety rating, the safer a car is. In fact, research has shown that you have twice the chance of being killed or seriously injured in a 3-star ANCAP safety-rated car compared to a 5-star ANCAP safety-rated car.

But what exactly does each star rating mean for the driver and passenger in the event of a collision? Here is a breakdown of the scoring system based on ANCAP's evaluation criteria and how much a vehicle needs to get to receive five stars.

Frequently asked questions about ANCAP safety ratings

• What types of crashes are most likely to cause serious injury or death?

  Frontal crashes account for approximately 60% of total serious and fatal injury crashes. Side-impact crashes (30%) account for the next highest number.

• Why doesn’t ANCAP test for rear-end collisions?

  Severe rear-end collisions are a relatively rare occurrence. However, since 2011, ANCAP has carried out whiplash tests to assess vehicle seats when a car is hit from the rear.

• Are the cars that ANCAP tests the same cars that I can buy from my local dealership?

  Yes. The vehicles ANCAP uses in crash tests are either purchased from dealerships or taken straight from the car manufacturer’s production line.

• Will ANCAP be introducing any new safety ratings or tests to further gauge safety?

  Yes. On 1 January 2018 ANCAP aligned with Euro NCAP, which saw the introduction of a number of new physical crash tests and new performance assessments of vehicle safety assist technologies. ANCAP also introduced "year tested" which shows the year the vehicle was last tested and received its star rating. The further back the test year the more out of date it is as new cars have become safer over time.

• Does ANCAP provide a child protection rating for each car it tests?

  No. A child occupant rating is not published due to the differences in the types of child restraints available in Australia. However, you can find out more about the safety performance of different child restraints through the Child Restraint Evaluation Program, which is run by a consortium of government agencies and motorist organisations.

Check your car's ANCAP safety rating

Picture: Shutterstock

Alex Jeffs

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Alex is the personal, car and business loan publisher at finder.com.au.

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