We have all seen the adverts and testing videos on TV with the crash test dummies and shuddered at the thought of that being us. But we all think those cars are instantly scrapped and the manufacturer goes on to make better safer cars. Right? Well, not entirely.
© Jasmin Merdan via 123RF
The shocking fact is, cars that have not passed international safety tests are actually driving on SA roads as we speak!
South Africa has no basic safety standards
South Africa is one of several countries in the world who has not instituted basic safety standards for cars to comply to. Cars that have failed the basic safety ratings in Europe, Australia, the US and South East Asia are actually driving here. Manufacturers find countries like ours, who don’t bother with standard safety ratings and push the stock there.
Europe, for example, has a set of standards in place, called the Euro NCAP Ratings, Australia has ANCAP and the US; FMVSS.
The AA in South Africa have recently been calling for these standards to be put into place, but there has been no move to actually get this installed in the country.
A closer look at the Euro NCAP ratings
So, how are cars rated? In Europe, cars are rated on four different factors. The cars are assessed on adult protection (for the driver and passenger); child protection; pedestrian protection and safety assist technologies...
For more, read the full article on Compare Guru.
