One Star Or Five Stars?

[Red Yaris 54]

Seeing as they have stopped making it, the chances are it won’t be tested.

NCAP = New Car Assessment Programme

There are American NCAP results, but I’m not sure in the difference in standards to the European one. I would trust the Euro NCAP myself.

Em DID say that it wasa NEW-ish model

[Jinxed]

Not necessarily, mine was a combined 80mph head on collision in my last Yaris and I walked away without a scratch and the eejits who hit me legged it without much difficulty! lol

The Yaris is an amazingly tough little car - had I been in that Metro it would have been a different story!

interesting lol there :)

im glad you had no injuries, shame they had none also like, but I didn't say every incident would be serious injuries or deaths involved

[Phoenix999]

The NCAP test results are really only a guide and a way of testing cars against each other. The tests are as good as they can be but really do not reflect real life accidents

I was a fireman for 26 years and saw almost every variation of car to car, car to bus, car to truck, car to concrete, car to tree etc etc.... you would be stunned at some of the outcomes. People often walked away from some of the most awful crashes and sadly died at some of the least damaging. I recall a 'head on' between a mini and a motorbike.... the biker walked away and the rear seat passenger in the mini died :( I also remember a crash between a Metro and a Jaguar XJ, the Jag had the greatest amount of damage, strange but true!

In real life there are too many variables to test for so the NCAP is all we have but please do not regard such test results as the perfect way of defining the safety of a car

[T V O R]

'I bet you seen some sights. I couldn’t do your job' ;)

Never argue with a tree, no matter how small, you never win.

I agree to a point with you SteveL but my main point is that its nice to know new cars have at least some form of standard to reach unlike in your early days as a Firefighter when cars had no safety features.

Technology is moving forward faster than we can keep up, which is all good news for us behind a wheel of a car. It doesn’t account for the laws of physics and the chimps driving

[Phoenix999]

.... but my main point is that its nice to know new cars have at least some form of standard....

I could not agree with you more than I do. The NCAP tests are really good and the best way to compare cars like for like.

I feel sure though that you understand what I meant by my observations :)

As a fireman I did see some nasty sights but thankfully those days are over as I have now retired

[Flat Pack]

Some people must live their lives very very scared the whole time.

Guess I'm with Rich on this one... Learnt to drive in a Mini and now have a car that I built myself and another one that's 17 years old and has no airbags or ABS. It must be a wonder we aren't dead already ;)

Quick straw poll... How often do people think the 'average' driver causes a fatal accident? :)

[sotal]

I used to have a metro,

At the time it was actually one of the safest cars on the road (but only for pedestrians!) Seriously it got some award for safety to pedestrians. They used to be know as leg crushers because the crumple zone, is the bit where your legs are in the front!

[Demonic Angel]

Seeing as they have stopped making it, the chances are it won’t be tested.

NCAP = New Car Assessment Programme

There are American NCAP results, but I’m not sure in the difference in standards to the European one. I would trust the Euro NCAP myself.

Em DID say that it wasa NEW-ish model

It is and newer than some of the models on the website actually but it would appear they have never tested it....

[T V O R]

Just found this...

Fiat Seicento

Click

Lethal...!!!

[silversurfer]

this was the main reason why i brought the surf..

bump whops that was a mini or a speed bump?

but safty should be everybodys first pic but 9 times out of 10 people go for looks/ speed/ knicker elastic snaping power?

buy with your head not your heart

[Jinxed]

buy with your head not your heart

no ;)

to quote imo a very talented songwriter....

When living your life like an arrow in flight,

you must always accept that the end is in sight,

be greatful at least for the fact that you knew,

you came to death he did not come for you!

[T V O R]

buy with your head not your heart

no ;)

to quote imo a very talented songwriter....

When living your life like an arrow in flight,

you must always accept that the end is in sight,

be greatful at least for the fact that you knew,

you came to death he did not come for you!

I’ll quote that when I step out of a 5* rated car to call for an Ambulance for the other driver and occupants that are injured and trapped!

;)

[Flat Pack]

Quick straw poll... How often do people think the 'average' driver causes a fatal accident? :)

Nobody answered this, but it's about once every 10,000 years. Oh roughly 6 times as many people die from complications following routine surgery on the NHS as are killed on the roads every year too... Neither of these stats has changed significantly over the past 10 years or so.

Think I'll take my chances ;)

[Kev Mc]

buy with your head not your heart

no ;)

to quote imo a very talented songwriter....

When living your life like an arrow in flight,

you must always accept that the end is in sight,

be greatful at least for the fact that you knew,

you came to death he did not come for you!

That's quality, who wrote it?

[j0t]

Euro NCAP is certainly an important resource for deciding which car to buy, but the fact that the tests are done at 64 Km/h makes them far less valuable than they are. I learned that the day my father died on his 4* Nissan Primera, equipped with every possible safety device (ESP, BA, ABS, Front, side and seat airbags, etc.): when I saw the car, the front left wheel was wedged into his seat and the steering wheel was 5cm far from the seat (they told me it smashed his chest). He was driving on the motorway at 130 Km/h (80 mph) when he got hit by a ford focus that lost control while coming the other way: it jumped into the opposite lane stepping over the centre strip and head-on bumped into the primera. I think there is no way a technological toy can make the driver survive an impact of that kind, and I always keep that in mind when I'm talking to Euro NCAP enthusiasts.

[T V O R]

Sorry to hear that j0t.

However no one can defy the laws of physics or account for other road user’s actions. At 80+mph with a combined speed off another oncoming vehicle, I don’t think any car would fair well.

The Princess of Wales car was doing between 60-70mph and that was a massive Merc and we all know what happened there.

[Jinxed]

That's quality, who wrote it?

guys name was Martin Valkier(spellings probably wrong though) if remember. The band was Sabat. The 2 albums most of note of the 3 they released were 'Dreamweaver' and 'History Of A Time To Come'. After these and a third rubbishy one Sabat split and Martin Valkier went on to be part of a band called Skyclad... which also did some awesome tracks

Sabat were kinda thrashy pagany type metal

Skyclad was a more mellow but still did some stuf like the earlier Sabat stuff.

Then I dunno what happened but Skyclad released like 12 or more albums... most notably for me 'The Wayward Sons Of Mother Earth'.

As for TVOR, lets hope its not your 5 star versus a 2 series volvo DEATHstar

[j0t]

Sorry to hear that j0t.

However no one can defy the laws of physics or account for other road user’s actions. At 80+mph with a combined speed off another oncoming vehicle, I don’t think any car would fair well.

The Princess of Wales car was doing between 60-70mph and that was a massive Merc and we all know what happened there.

You made a good point. What I wanted to say, indeed, is that safety devices are important, but they add just a tiny bit of safety compared to all the rest of things that avoid accidents and car deaths. That's why when I read that the rover metro is a sardine can with wheels, and everybody agrees to that as if it was the main reason for the deadliness of such cars I tend not to take too seriously the whole discussion.

The entire topic here is about the huge leap ahead that 5* cars have against 1*s. My objection is that it's pointless to compare 5* to 1* when more often than that the fault that causes accidents or deaths is in the driver (drunkenness or tiredness, for example), on in the road (especially here in Italy where the asphalt feels like the back of a tortoise on most roads) or in the most basic features of the car (I've seen too many careless drivers on cars with malfunctioning headlights or taillights, with flat or worn tires, etc.)...