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Original poster

How safe is your car...?

39 replies

SoupDragon · 14/07/2006 14:11

Euro NCAP safety tests

How does your car score for passenger and pedestrian safety? Which did you consider whenpurchasing your car? Did you even know it was scored on pedestrian safety?

My Laguna scores 5/5 for passenger safety. This was the reason we bought it. It only scores 2/4 for pedestrian safety. It never occurred to me to check how safe it was for pedestrian shouldI be unfortunate enough to hit one (or they be unfortunate enough to be hit my me)

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wheresmyfroggy · 14/07/2006 14:15

Our picasso is 4/5 for passenger safety and only 2/4 for pedestrian too. Doesn't have a score for child safety at all.

deegward · 14/07/2006 14:16

Mercedes A Class - 5/5 for adult, 4/5 for Child, and 2/5 for pedestrian. Gosh all going well, better make sure I don't hit anyone

MissChief · 14/07/2006 14:18

4/5 passengers, 2/5 pedestrians so not bad
really
how crap all cars are for pedestrians, hardly any 2 stars at all (and out of 5 that's not exactly encouraging)..
yes, i realise this is going to fuel the lumping together of 4x4s debate..still hate them though!

MissChief · 14/07/2006 14:20

citroen c6 is good, anyone got one?

zippitippitoes · 14/07/2006 14:21

mine is one for pedestrian safety..it shares the characterisitics of 4x4 because it doesn't have a sloped bonnet and it is raised to the wrong height

transit vans are amongst the worst too for the same reason

Original poster
SoupDragon · 14/07/2006 14:21

I think the "child safety" is for children in the car.

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Original poster
SoupDragon · 14/07/2006 14:22

This was a spin off from the 4x4s, yes. However, it shows how appalling all cars are for pedestrians. If you click ont he car name, you get a write up which makes interesting reading.

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Original poster
SoupDragon · 14/07/2006 14:24

2001 Laguna for example "Pedestrian protection has not improved in the same manner as occupant protection. The front of the car is unforgiving but parts of the bonnet provided protection."

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Original poster
SoupDragon · 14/07/2006 14:24

Hardly encouraging for it's 2*s is it?!

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joelallie · 14/07/2006 14:25

Ooooh. We've got a laguna so ours is safe ....goody! Not really a consideration though. Price, age, mileage, how expensive to fix and how reliable .....if you told me the safest car in the world it wouldn't make any difference as I probably wouldn't be able to afford it.

Original poster
SoupDragon · 14/07/2006 14:26

Ah, but the Laguna is cr*p for pedestrians, joelallie.

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Kelly1978 · 14/07/2006 14:26

mine isn't on there (seat alhambra). My old 4x4 (nissan terrano) isn't on there neither.

I saw on tv recently (prob 5th gear) a collision staged between a heavyweight 4x4 and a renault espace. They considered two cars of the same value and so the 4x4 came off a lot worse. That really interested me. The driver of the 4x4 would prob have lost their legs. But I think it really needed to be done with a 4x4 of the same age, as they are more expensive, it was a far older money for the £10k or whatever they allowed.

QueenEagle · 14/07/2006 14:28

Mine isn't even on there. I would hazard a guess that any pedestrian hit by my car would come off a lot, lot worse. I'm guessing passengers would be ok-ish as it is a very large MPV type. Well actually it's a mini-bus. Sort of.

zippitippitoes · 14/07/2006 14:29

Just to put my oar in too I don't think people realise that a vehicle can be moving very slowly indeed and still cause death or serious injury if you hit the wrong part of it and vice versa..it always shocks me that people stand so close to traffic at eg traffic lights..a glancing blow can have tragic consequences

Original poster
SoupDragon · 14/07/2006 14:31

I agree. Especially as it seems to be the leading edge of the bonnet that performs the worst in these tests.

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edam · 14/07/2006 14:32

Oh sh1t, ours doesn't do well for pedestrian safety. Although it's older than the ones on there - I guess that's unlikely to mean it's any better, though. B*gger.

Thing is, we've never actually bought a car - the first one we had was a company car dh's firm were ditching we got for a few hundred and the one we've got now we inherited when his dad died. I don't think pedestrian safety was even measured then - I was working for an organisation which crash tests cars and I'd never heard of it. IIRC it came in a couple of years later.

No way we could buy a new car. But when we have to replace it, will definitely check out the NCAP ratings on whatever second-hand model we can find. And will pass this on to dh, as he's the driver, to make sure he's extra aware of this.

Had a really nasty experience once when a man ran out in front of us. He loomed up what seemed like inches from our bonnet. Thank God dh managed to miss him somehow. Hate to think what would have happened...

Kelly1978 · 14/07/2006 14:33

I wonder if the sloping bonnets of cars like mine help pedestrians? (alhambra, picasso, etc.)they would prob roll over rather than be knocked flat on. I hate the sloping bonnet tho, you cannot see anything out of the windscreen. I'm mroe likely to hit the bugger cos I can't see!

jampots · 14/07/2006 14:36

Mines not on there but suspect similar to Range Rover

edam · 14/07/2006 14:36

I'm not suprised by the BMW ratings, btw, I was hit by one that was barely moving. and was still thrown 20 feet down the road. Luckily got off with bruising and ruptured ligaments in my ankle but took months to heal (although I was pregnant so that probably didn't help. Ds was undamaged, thank heavens).

joelallie · 14/07/2006 14:40

"Ah, but the Laguna is cr*p for pedestrians, joelallie."

So it is. But that'll teach 'em to try and climb on my bonnet....huh! Seriously I never considered that aspect when I bought my car. How often do we plan on having an accident anyway. I am very very aware of pedestrians when I drive in town - often being one myself with 3 kids in tow. But I know there's always just that one time......

FioFio · 14/07/2006 14:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

edam · 14/07/2006 14:40

Looking at the detail, at least it's OK for hitting a child's head. It's impact on adult pedestrians' legs is the thing that makes it rate poorly.

hub2dee · 14/07/2006 14:54

Not quite related to the Ncap reports, but I was all set to be an early 3 series BMW estate ('Touring') for around 1 - 4K, and decided not to when I realised this model (or that age) were never built with airbags. Still think they are damn fine cars !

hub2dee · 14/07/2006 15:00

(buy)

Original poster
SoupDragon · 14/07/2006 17:17

Exactly, joelallie. I dont htink anyone considers how safe their car is for pedestrian in the event that they hit one. I started looking into it when posters were commenting on how a 4x4 owner could justify having a vehicle that was so danggerous to pedestrians. Well, it turns out that most other cars aren't actually a whole lot better (the majority are better I think but by no means all of them and not by a vast amount in some cases.) It was a surprise to me! It's not something I considered when looking at cars. My primary concern was how safe my family would be in the event of an accident.

I'm still not sure how much of a difference the pedestrian score would make to me when choosing a new car. I am, however, appalled at how little concern car manufacturers have about it though.

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