In car design, occupant safety should go hand in hand with pedestrian protection.
This is the position of the Consumer Council when it comes to the overall assessment of car safety.
In the latest test conducted by Euro NCAP (The European New Car Assessment Programme) on 17 models - comprising 3 large and 5 small family cars, 2 large and 2 small MPVs, 3 large and 1 small off-roaders, and 1 supermini - the results are rather disappointing in respect of pedestrian protection.
The results showed all cars have achieved well for occupant safety - 6 models were awarded the top rating of 5 stars while all the remainders followed closely with a 4-star score.
But the picture changed drastically when it came to pedestrian protection in the event of road users being hit by motor vehicles, most cars in the test were rated rather poorly with only one or two stars out of a maximum of 4 stars.
Only 3 out of the 17 cars tested scored 3 stars. One car was given actually zero-score on pedestrian protection. It clearly shows that the manufacturer has made no effort whatsoever to protect pedestrians, reflecting a worrying disregard for the safety of this important group of road users.
The Council stressed that occupant safety can in fact go hand in hand with pedestrian protection.
One of the cars with top 5-star rating in occupant safety was also the recipient of a 3-star rating in pedestrian protection.
In the test samples, all but two of the cars were provided with some form of intelligent seat belt reminder such as a visual or loud and clear audible warning of seatbelt non-use. The fitting of such devices in increasingly more new cars is to be encouraged.
Motorists are strongly advised that in the absence of seat belt use, almost all of the protective measures currently being built into cars would have little effect. Seat belts continued to be the most effective measure to protect vehicle occupants.
Furthermore, parents are advised to use child car seat for their children because the design of car seat belts is based on the size of an adult. They might not be fitted very well for children.
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