SUVs score top safety ratings

A pair of mid-size SUVs have been awarded five-star safety ratings by ANCAP, with the top marks being handed out to the Mercedes-Benz GLC and the upgraded Land Rover Discovery Sport. 

The GLC, pictured above, achieved a high adult occupant protection score of 92 per cent when assessed against 2020-2022 protocol criteria. 

ANCAP notes it also scored full points for the protection of the driver and child occupants in the side-impact test, the driver in the full-width frontal test, and front-seat passenger in the frontal offset test. 

However, protection offered to the chest of the driver in the oblique pole test was assessed as weak.

Safety experts also note concern over the GLC’s design in preventing serious pelvic injury to a struck pedestrian, giving it a poor impact protection rating and a zero score in this area of assessment.

The GLC fared better with its active safety capability, which ANCAP says showed the model’s effectiveness in responding to other vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists through its autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system. 

Good levels of performance were shown in these tests, with crash avoidance or mitigation demonstrated across the tested scenarios.

It also achieved good performance in lane-keep assist scenarios and adequate performance in the more critical emergency lane-keeping situations.

Carla Hoorweg, ANCAP’s chief executive, says: “Mercedes-Benz continues to offer a comprehensive safety package to its customers.” 

The current generation Land Rover Discovery Sport was first introduced in Australia and New Zealand in 2015 where it achieved a five-star rating against the test criteria of the time. 

Following safety upgrades to the model last year, the Discovery Sport has undergone a fresh round of testing against the more stringent 2022 criteria where it demonstrated five-star safety performance across all areas of assessment.

Enhancements to the AEB system saw it achieve good results in its AEB car-to-car functionality, while its AEB car-to-pedestrian and lane support systems showed adequate performance.

The protection offered by the Discovery Sport to occupants in a crash was sound, with ANCAP recording a mix of good, adequate and marginal results recorded. 
Points were deducted for the vehicle’s performance in side impacts, as the side chest-protecting airbag did not deploy correctly.

“ANCAP’s assessments and vehicle safety have both come a long way since the Land Rover Discovery Sport was first assessed in 2014,” adds Hoorweg.

“For the same generation model to be awarded five-stars against ANCAP’s more recent protocols is an impressive achievement.”

The revised ANCAP safety rating for the Discovery Sport applies to petrol variants sold from May 2022 in New Zealand. The Discovery Sport SE P300e PHEV is unrated.

To find full details on the safety performance of vehicles rated by ANCAP, visit www.ancap.com.au.