How do you choose a safe car to buy?

Choosing a safe car to buy is a principal concern for most new car buyers. There is a bewildering range of new technologies which claim to help make cars safety, but there are also some real basics. There are also programs in place that can help with determining the safety of new cars such as the Australian New Car Assessment Program (www.ancap.com.au) which have developed criteria for new car safety.

What are some basics of new car safety?

Until fairly recently cars didn’t even have airbags. Today the idea of a car without airbags is untenable. But there’s also been a huge raft of other technologies that have come into play that impact upon safety, such as Electronic Stability Control (ESC).

• ESC is a driver assist technology that intervenes when a car starts moving in a way that indicates it may be in a dangerous situation. Electronic sensors make adjustments to individual wheels which may include applying selective braking, and adjusting steering. The aim is to regain control of a vehicle that has lost control as quickly as possible. This kind of technology is useful because it a loss of control situation most motorists do the ‘intuitive’ response which is to steer ‘away’ from the possible impact area, which can lead to the car flipping.
• ESC instantly applies the kind of ‘counter intuitive’ advanced driving response that allows the car to recover quickly and return control to the driver, often more quickly than a normal driver ever could.
• Side impact airbags
• Side impact strengthening and protection
• Neck protection
• Headlights that turn off after a short period of time so you can park the car and still find your way to the door of your house without worrying about being in the dark
• Safety cell technology, which is when the actual bodywork around the occupant area is strengthened
• Solid braking. There are a great many braking technologies now, but any safe car needs to have brakes that pull up sharply without skidding and loss of directional inputs

Compared to just a few years ago there are now a large range of safety features in new cars, but the best place to start is at the ANCAP website. ANCAP has developed criteria for assessing new cars and awards each new vehicle with a score out of a possible five stars. Five star safety is now extremely affordable and any serious new car buyer should start at the ANCAP website and do some research about the models they are interested in.