ANCAP

The 2021 Kia Carnival has earned a five-star safety rating against tough new testing protocols – and it scored top marks even without a centre airbag between the front seats. For 2020 and beyond, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) and its European affiliate raised the bar on side impact crash protection and advanced safety aids.

More than 80 per cent of drivers polled in a recent survey have backed calls for safety rating labels to be mandatory on new cars in showrooms. West Australia’s Royal Automobile Club (RAC) – the equivalent of the NRMA in NSW, the RACV in Victoria, and the RACQ in Queensland – recently surveyed approximately 500 of its members. The survey found about 90 per cent of respondents rated safety as a priority when purchasing a new or used car.

One in three new delivery vans tested by safety authorities have inadequate crash-avoidance technology – and have been put on a "Not Recommended" list following new research. The not-for-profit Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) – which ranks the crash safety of most new vehicles – found that five out of 15 vans tested did not "offer the level of active safety performance consumers should expect".

Australia's peak automotive safety body ANCAP has officially awarded the 2020 Jeep Gladiator a three-star safety rating, citing "lower than expected" levels of adult occupant and vulnerable road user protection as the reason for the score. Of the maximum five stars a car can receive, ANCAP issued the utility vehicle only three, based on 2019 testing of its SUV sibling, the Jeep Wrangler, as well as supplied technical evidence and in-house evaluation and modelling.

A database of 500 new and used cars – with instructions on how to cut them open after a crash – is now only a fingertip away for emergency services and could save lives by saving valuable seconds. ANCAP Rescue is a new app produced by Australia’s crash test authority – the Australasian New Car Assessment Program – and is available free of charge to fire and rescue crews who need to find the fastest way to safely cut open a vehicle after a major incident.