Latest News

‘Rapid uptake’ of ADAS is making used car parc safer 

The seemingly unstoppable advance of automation like ADAS is filtering into the used car sector making it significantly safer, new research has found. 

Monash University Accident Research Centre’s (MUARC) latest 2024 Used Car Safety Rating report, released Wednesday, found the average risk of injury or death for drivers in 2022 car models is 36 per cent lower than in 2002. 

Research lead and MUARC Director Professor Stuart Newstead said the spread of ADAS across the used car parc is so significant the Centre created a new rating methodology to better reflect its impact. 

“The proportion of used cars equipped with ADAS will only increase as older vehicles retire and the new brands with mandated safety features filter into the market”, said Professor Newstead. 

“It takes Australia about 22 years to get through the used car fleet, but there’s been a rapid uptake of ADAS technology since federal mandates for new cars kicked off in January 2012,” he said. 

“We expect the bulk of used cars to have [ADAS] by 2025 and near 100 per cent by 2034.” 

The 2024 report awarded a five-star safety rating to slightly over one in five of the 534 vehicle models analysed based on their crash avoidance technology and driver and other road user safety performance across police and injury data between 1987 and 2022. 

Electronic stability control was noted as having become significantly more available in car models since 2008. 

Autonomous emergency braking, roll stability control, lane keep assist and
reversing technologies also factored into analysis. 

Professor Newstead said the updated safety ratings would “empower consumers to make a safer choice” when purchasing used vehicles. 

“We need to consider how the vehicle protects you as the driver in a crash, the injury risk the vehicle poses to other road users in the crash and how likely the vehicle is to avoid a crash altogether,” Professor Newstead said. 

The Used Car Safety Ratings ‘Overall Safety’ rating reflects the balance of performance of a vehicle across all these aspects.” 

A 2021 report by the federal Department of Transport said it expected ADAS to be “ubiquitous” across Australia’s new car market by 2045, especially as self-driving technology advances. 

A report by the US Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety found more than 90 per cent of 2023 US vehicle models had at least six ADAS systems. 

The report found improvements in overall driver safety for the light vehicle fleet has improved by over 55 per cent since 1981.

It also found medium, and small SUVs have more models rated five-stars for Overall Safety compared to small and medium cars, partly reflecting that the majority of these vehicles are newer.

But  small SUVs and light cars had the worst occupant protection, largely due to their lighter weight and sometimes poor specification for safety equipment.

For the popular commercial utes and people movers there was less beneficial findings, as it found they performed relatively poorly in occupant protection, despite being heavier.

“Of greater concern is the high risk of injury these vehicle types pose to other road users emphasising why crash avoidance technologies such as lane keep assist and autonomous braking are so important for these vehicle types, ” the report noted.

Newstead said the updated ratings will empower consumers to make a safer choices both for them and the broader community.

The 16 Safer Pick vehicles that the research gave 5-stars in every category are (in alphabetical order):

  • Audi A4/S4/RS4/All Road (MY 2008-2015)
  • Honda Civic (MY 2016-2021)
  • Honda Odyssey (MY 2013-2021)
  • Hyundai Tucson (MY 2015-2020)
  • Mazda 3/Axela (MY 2013-2019)
  • Mazda 6/Atenza (MY 2012-2022)
  • Mazda CX-5 (MY 2017-2022)
  • Mercedes Benz CLA-Class C117/X117 (MY 2013-2019)
  • Mercedes Benz E-Class W212/C207/A207 (MY 2009-2016)
  • Mercedes Benz GLA-Class X156 (MY 2014-2019)
  • Mitsubishi Outlander (MY 2012-2021)
  • Subaru Impreza/XV (MY 2016-2022)
  • Toyota Camry (MY 2017-2022)
  • Toyota Corolla (MY 2018-2022)
  • Volkswagen Tiguan (MY 2016-2022)
  • Volkswagen Touareg (MY 2011-

 

 

Send this to a friend