A new car crash test that found an inadequacy in some otherwise five-star crash safety performers in the United States is unlikely to be replicated by the Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).
Only three of 11 top-end cars tested by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) earned a “good” or “acceptable” rating in an overlap test in which 25 per cent of the vehicle’s front strikes a solid barrier at 40mph (64km/h).
In one of the tests, the front door of a Volkswagen CC came off, and in another, a Lexus IS crumpled around the legs of the crash test dummy.
Highly rated European cars – the Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3 Series and Audi A4 – that breezed through European NCAP testing were among cars rated marginal or poor in the IIHS test that is designed to replicate a car crashing into an object such as a parked car, tree or pole, striking only a portion of the front of the vehicle, around the headlight.
ANCAP chairman Lauchlan McIntosh told the Australian website GoAuto that a more important priority for his organisation
