Rightcar Mythbusters

What’s a safer car – a small hatchback or a large SUV?

a)    SUV
b)    Hatchback
c)    It depends on the safety rating

A heavier vehicle will tend to have the advantage in a collision with a lighter vehicle, although the occupants of a smaller vehicle with better structural integrity may be better protected, so safety rating of each car is the best indication of the crash outcome.

Smaller cars have less mass and can sometimes stop more quickly, which will mean any impact might be at a lower speed. In addition, size doesn’t necessarily equate to greater strength in a side impact crash because if the doors are bigger, greater reinforcement is required to achieve the same protection.

Visit dealer.rightcar.govt.nz for useful resources and accurate information on safe, clean and efficient vehicles.

What safety rating does a car with 7 airbags have?

a) 1-star
b) 2-star
c) 3-star
d) 4-star
e) 5-star
f) Any of the above

Safety features alone - such as airbags - don’t tell you about a vehicle’s performance in a crash. Safety ratings indicate the likely performance of a vehicle in a crash, as the rating assesses structural integrity as well as safety features, indicating how well the vehicle is likely to protect occupants in the event of a crash.

Visit dealer.rightcar.govt.nz for useful resources and accurate information on safe, clean and efficient vehicles.

How often do vehicle safety ratings change for a specific make and model?

a) Never
b) Annually
c) It depends

When a vehicle is new - and for a number of years following, there's little real-world data available about its performance in a crash. To help assess a new vehicle's safety performance, ANCAP crash tests vehicles in a controlled laboratory setting. ANCAP ratings only apply to vehicles sold new in New Zealand or Australia, and only apply to specific versions of vehicle models.

ANCAP makes the requirements for a 5-star rating more stringent as safety technology advances, so older vehicles don't have the same level of relative safety as a vehicle tested in 2020. For this reason, ANCAP ratings only have a short life - which is up to 6 years, but they can be replaced sooner when a new model generation is brought on the market.

When an ANCAP rating is replaced, vehicles are assigned either a Used Car Safety Rating (UCSR) or a Vehicle Safety Risk Rating (VSRR) generated from a database of over 8 million crashes held by Monash University. Both UCSR and VSRR ratings indicate a vehicle's real-world crash performance compared to the rest of the light vehicles fleet across Australia and New Zealand. 

Visit dealer.rightcar.govt.nz for useful resources and accurate information on safe, clean and efficient vehicles.

Are older cars safer than new cars?

a) 100%
b) As if
c) It depends

Advances in technology means most vehicles are getting safer over time. Used Car Safety Ratings show that, on average, newer model vehicles provide their drivers with better protection from injury in a crash. This comes from better structural designs, an increase in the fitting of safety features and the quality and type of materials used in building the vehicle.

However, the age of a car doesn’t guarantee the safety rating of a vehicle. We recommend people check the Rightcar website for the current safety rating of a vehicle and buy the vehicle with the highest safety rating in their price range.

Visit dealer.rightcar.govt.nz for useful resources and accurate information on safe, clean and efficient vehicles.