Any responsible, conscientious drivers would have placed same equal importance to the safety of passengers as well as pedestrians.
Some car makers, however, could definitely improve on such noble goal.
The latest car test report released by the Consumer Council has attested to this skewed practice in the design of safety protection for drivers and occupants, on the one hand, and the safety for pedestrians, on the other, in the unfortunate event of a car accident.
At least six of the models featured in the report were found to display such discrepancy in protection levels, unfairly subjecting pedestrians caught in a car crash to jeopardy which could be reduced with better car design.
The six models in question scored well in driver and adult occupant protection (with rating from 86% to 97%). But sadly when it came to pedestrian protection, the rating was less than 60%!
Of all the 21 tested models, the worst ratings for pedestrian protection were scored by an electric car and a van, which trailed behind with only 37% and 26% respectively. In both cases, the bumper and bonnet were judged to provide poor protection that may result in injury to a hapless pedestrian in a crash.
Car makers are urged to exercise greater corporate social responsibility in an area that is obviously lagging behind in safety protection. Consumers are advised also to be vigilant in their choice of vehicles that protect motorists and pedestrians alike.
Another area of disappointing finding in the test concerned protection for child occupant in three models (1 executive, 1 small off-roader and 1 large off-roader).
In one model in particular, the airbag at the front passenger seat could not be temporarily disabled. This means that a rear-facing child car seat cannot be installed in the front seat, otherwise in the event of an impact, the airbag would deploy and the child's head would hit the seat back hard, posing risk of injury to the child.
In a nutshell, the overall performance of the 21 tested models, which include different car types from European and Asian brands, was deemed satisfactory on a 1 to 5 stars scale.
Altogether 18 out of 21 test models were awarded the top 5-star overall rating. Only one van sample was rated with a relatively poor overall 3 stars.
In the test, Japanese and Korean models fared very competitively with European makes, in terms of driver and adult occupant protection. In fact, the average score of the Asian brands in this aspect was 92% compared with their European counterparts an average score of 88%.
The test was conducted by Euro NCAP (European New Car Assessment Programme) which encourages car manufacturers to raise the safety specification of their cars and also provides reliable assessment on car safety performance to consumers. To encourage car manufacturers to adopt new safety technologies, Euro NCAP confers the Euro NCAP Advanced awards as recognition of new safety technologies.
One of the safety technologies uses a camera mounted near the top of the windscreen to detect lane marking ahead of the vehicle. When a lane marking is about to be crossed unintentionally, the system will intervene by applying a gentle steering correction. If the system is not able to correct the lane departure, a warning signal will be sent to the driver through a steering wheel vibration.
Another technology monitors the way in which the driver is controlling the car. It detects drowsy driving and warns the driver by issuing a light signal on the dash board and an audible tone.
When purchasing a new car, buyers should be aware that the safety devices of some car models sold in Hong Kong might be different from the models sold in Europe. They should therefore check if side airbags, knee airbags, curtain airbags for head protection or ESC (Electronic Stability Control) are provided in the car they intend to buy. If not, they should ask the agents if those devices can be installed.
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- 2013.03.18