ANCAP receives government funding to continue research.
The Australian Government will provide ANCAP with $2.2million of continued support over the next two years.
Infrastructure and Transport Minister Darren Chester made the announcement last week as part of National Road Safety Week (May 1-8), which aims to raise awareness of the numbers killed or injured in road crashes in Australia.
“Road crashes devastate too many families and communities with over 1200 lives lost each year and more than 30,000 seriously injured,” he said. “Safety should be top-of-mind every time we get in our cars and Australians need to be mindful of the benefits of purchasing cars with high safety ratings.”
He also reminds us that looks don’t necessarily equate to safety. “When purchasing a vehicle, it is important to remember that not all cars are created equal. A sound structure and good restraint systems will provide the best chance of survival in a crash. Cars with active safety technologies, such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB), could in fact prevent a crash altogether,” Chester said.
Wendy Machin, ANCAP Chair, said government contributions toward road safety helps bolster the independent work ANCAP does to improve vehicle safety.
“This support, teamed with the long-term commitment of our other 22 member organisations,” she said, “will further enhance our safety rating program as we move to ensure testing remains relevant over the next few years.”
“Consumers will have greater information and choice which will encourage vehicle importers to ensure we have world best practice safety in our cars,” Ms Machin said. “ANCAP is evolving to keep pace with new safety technologies and the progression to vehicle automation. We are developing a new global test protocol with our European counterparts so that vehicle crash test data can be shared between the organisations from 2018.”
Six new cars to arrive in Australia this year have already been awarded five-star ANCAP ratings. They include the Jaguar XF, Holden Spark, Skoda Superb, and last week the Hyundai Elantra, Kia Sportage and Picanto.
