By Michael Mwaii
Is that trendy two-seater Smart car, Vitz or is it safe to be in?
I can tell you are already feeling insecure or confident because of your vehicle’s size. However, a big car might give a false sense of security: Bigger is not necessarily safer. Although the Toyota Fun Cargo is slightly bigger than the Vitz, it is actually the same vehicle in terms of safety.
While you should look for the safest vehicle possible, it does not really matter how safe or unsafe your vehicle is claimed to be. If you are driving too fast or recklessly, your vehicle is an unsafe place.
Log on to the Internet and check the safety rating of your vehicle to determine what your chances are in the unfortunate case of a crash.
Driving the 2003-2005 Toyota Vitz at 120kph is only safe on a clear open road with few vehicles. I am not saying the Vitz is a bad car. It is actually a very good car, otherwise they would not have sold more than 3.5 million units of the original model.
What about the Toyota Probox we all love and hate in equal measure? I think its assembly line should be checked and exorcised: Tests in Japan gave it 2.45 points out of six.
All said and done, you are only as safe as the knowledge you have of your vehicle, the environment and your driving skills. Any overloaded, overstretched vehicle is a death trap.
Seek knowledge
To get value for your money, choose a vehicle that has been tested and rated. Vehicle manufacturers know safety features are a key selling point and ensure their products pass the crashworthiness test.
In Europe, there is the New Car Assessment Programme (EuroNCAP), and in America they have the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In Japan, the institution responsible for checking safety is the Japan New Car Assessment Programme (JNCAP), which started its work in 1995.
Cars are tested in three areas: Full-width frontal and braking performance, a side-impact test and a frontal offset test.
While your vehicle has been designed to protect you in the event of a collision with a moving or stationary object, it must also protect you if another vehicle rams you while you are not moving.
To make the tests as realistic as possible, a dummy is placed in the vehicle’s driver and passenger seats and driven into a concrete barrier. The unfortunate dummies are then checked for injury to the neck, head, chest and legs. The vehicle’s crumple zones are also examined for damage in critical areas.
Longer vehicles with more airbags on all sides normally fair better than those with only two in the front.
However, do not take the test results at face value, as they are not always realistic. You will normally be travelling at more than the 55kph that the Japanese tests are based on. The European tests are conducted at 64kph, which is also too low to be objective in a real-life situation. These tests do not also factor in passengers not wearing seatbelts, as is the trend in many countries.
Another key consideration is the weight of the other vehicles involved in the crash, for instance if a Vitz comes face-to-face with a gigantic Prado.
Also important is child occupant safety. However, these tests only make sense when the child is strapped into a child seat.
Vehicle safety ratings nowadays also include pedestrian injury. New vehicles are being designed to minimise the injury to the head and legs of pedestrians.
Other factors that improve a vehicle’s score are electronic safety features such as Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Antilock Braking System (ABS), and automatic braking systems that use sensors to detect if the vehicle ahead is too close. Presently, the damage mitigation brake system, lane keep assist and adaptive cruise control are being commercialised.
Kenyan vehicle dealers have, for years, deleted airbags and features such as ABS from vehicle specifications to maximise profit. Please do not purchase a vehicle without these important safety features.
It is important to note that airbags only work effectively if you are wearing your seat belt. Airbags supplement the functions of the belt by coming between the passenger and the vehicle structure in case of a crash. ?GM are working on a central air bag that will come between the passengers.
A 2007 analysis of crash data revealed that there is a direct relationship between a vehicle’s crash test rating and the number of deaths and injuries related to it.It is estimated that more than 5,000 fatalities and more than 130,000 serious injuries were prevented from 1995 to 2007 as a result of JNCAP’s work.
Do your part
The question you should ask yourself is this: Are you helping your vehicle save your life by wearing your seat belts and driving at the prescribed speeds?
Only drive a vehicle as fast as it can safely stop. On the other hand, if you are driving a high performance vehicle, be mindful of other road users whose vehicles cannot swerve and stop as well as yours. Remember, your vehicle’s safety ratings are based on a situation where your vehicle crashes with a similar sized vehicle or stationery object at modest speed.
In case you are wondering, your 2005 Vitz is quite a safe car. EuroNCAP tests gave it all five stars for adult safety (but only three stars for child safety). On the other hand, pedestrians should run from this car: It scored only two stars in this test.
Have a crash-free week.
