NCAP misleading

[codprawn]

This is a topic that has been discussed before. Many people don't realise that a car with an NCAP rating of 5 may not be as safe as a larger vehicle with a lower rating.

Just come across this video which is quite scary - the bigger vehicle always wins!!!

The new Fiat 500 has a 5 star rating - the Audi has a 4 star.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pVF1Wr7GL

http://www.adac.de/adactv/

Go to the 2nd link dated 24-07-08 it's in German but the video speaks for itself - scary stuff!!!

[Alex-341]

The youtube link is broken

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by Alex-341

The youtube link is broken

Strange it worked before - ahh a missing Q!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pVF1Wr7GLQ

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by codprawn

Many people don't realise that a car with an NCAP rating of 5 may not be as safe as a larger vehicle with a lower rating.

It is indeed alarming but your statement is false. Because you could have the same safety coding for ... bikes for example,.. but what use is that when you crash into an HGV ?

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

It is indeed alarming but your statement is false. Because you could have the same safety coding for ... bikes for example,.. but what use is that when you crash into an HGV ?

My statement is NOT false. The media and NCAP should make it clear to the public that there is a huge difference in safety between a small vehicle and a larger one.

People are buying tiny little cars with 5 star ratings thinking they are safe. The media will sing the praises of a small 5 star car and yet criticise a Land Rover or Nissan Navarra because they only have 2 or 3.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/943589.stm

Small cars are becoming safer than ever, according to the latest crash test results carried out by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP).
The best performer of all was the Toyota Yaris, the UK's 11th most popular supermini this year. Euro NCAP said it had achieved the third best crash test score of any car since tests began in 1997 - "a significant engineering achievement for such a small vehicle".

[Bigmuz7]

Ok so you should have reframed your thread "NCAP is a useless comparison when you crash your small car into something three times its size and weight!!" err... like we didnt know that

Isnt it the case that NCAP is about more than just primary crash protection anyway ? .. so in many cases the car you are talking about may well have a justifiable rating

[jwalker]

err... like we didnt know that

We know that but I'm with Codders. Media info is sometimes, err...frequently, given as support for their agenda but it is used in ignorance and accepted as fact my many (most?). But we know that too, don't we?

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

Ok so you should have reframed your thread "NCAP is a useless comparison when you crash your small car into something three times its size and weight!!" err... like we didnt know that

Isnt it the case that NCAP is about more than just primary crash protection anyway ? .. so in many cases the car you are talking about may well have a justifiable rating

You know it and I know it but as jwalker says most people don't!!!

I read about so many crashes where young people especially are killed in tiny little cars - often with 5 or 6 passengers in them. In a big car the extra load isn't so bad but in a small car you are almost doubling it's weight.

Insurance companies and tax bands don't help either. Young drivers go for these tiny cars for cheaper insurance. Quite why a Corsa 1.4 should be cheaper to insure than say a Mondeo 1.8 is beyond me - the Corsa is quicker!!!

I wouldn't mind betting the parents who buy these small cars for their kids think - ahh well it's got 5 stars and that old Mondeo is only 3.

I agree if you make a habit of crashing into a concrete block without too many passengers then the NCAP figures are great - if you crash into anything else then the biggest usually wins.

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by codprawn

You know it and I know it but as jwalker says most people don't!!!

No .. I dont think people are that naive,.. and thats my point I made earlier

Originally Posted by codprawn

I read about so many crashes where young people especially are killed in tiny little cars - often with 5 or 6 passengers in them. In a big car the extra load isn't so bad but in a small car you are almost doubling it's weight.

Thats in so many cases because they drive like idiots, taking unbelievable risks, because they just dont have the knowledge of what speeds they are doing, and how to handle their vehicles .. not always .. but often. They are the biggest risk groups because of their lack of experience not because they studied NCAP ratings !!

Originally Posted by codprawn

Insurance companies and tax bands don't help either. Young drivers go for these tiny cars for cheaper insurance. Quite why a Corsa 1.4 should be cheaper to insure than say a Mondeo 1.8 is beyond me - the Corsa is quicker!!!

Because the Corsa is cheaper to repair most probably !

Originally Posted by codprawn

I wouldn't mind betting the parents who buy these small cars for their kids think - ahh well it's got 5 stars and that old Mondeo is only 3.

They probably assume (not unrealistically) the bigger car is more costly to run, and the way road tax is going, they will be correct !

Originally Posted by codprawn

I agree if you make a habit of crashing into a concrete block without too many passengers then the NCAP figures are great

or if you knock down a pedestrian etc ..

But I do take your point about misinformation, which kind of reminds me about the CE Cat A / B / C coding I pointed out on another thread about transom failure and how useless that is.. but that is a much more technical issue than people buying cars like smart cars, and thinking they can take on an HGV, I just dont think people are that stupid