Since 1993 the Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has been crash testing passenger cars and publishing results to provide new vehicle buyers, when making a purchasing decision, with independent advice on occupant protection. Over the period the program has been operating there have been significant improvements in occupant protection provided by some passenger cars while other models have shown only small improvements. Similar consumer crash testing programs have been conducted in the United States since 1978 and have recently started in both Europe and Japan. This paper traces the improvements in occupant protection of Australian passenger cars since the beginning of ANCAP and benchmarks the occupant safety offered by Australian cars against similar consumer crash testing programs conducted in the United States and Europe. In 1997 and again in 1999 a study conducted by the Monash University Accident Research Centre found that the results from ANCAP crash tests had a high degree of correlation with the outcomes of on-road crashes. A study conducted by the University of Western Australia Road Accident Prevention Research Unit quantified the reductions in injury costs due to improvements in occupant protection and also specifically from the introduction of airbags into some vehicle models. Using the results from these studies this paper also estimates the reduction in injury costs from crashes in Australia involving a range of passenger vehicles by considering the improvements in occupant protection in these vehicles. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E205827.
Abstract