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COPYRIGHT 2003 Australian Consumers' Association
IN A NUTSHELL
* The ratings are based on real-life accidents.
* Ideally, look for a model that offers good protection for you and for other drivers in an accident.
Choosing a safer car could mean the difference between getting out of an accident with a fright or with a serious injury. Many new models offer sophisticated crash design and a range of safety equipment. But what if you're looking for a used car?
The latest used car safety ratings can help you make a decision. They're based on a study by the Monash University Accident Research Centre that analysed more than one million tow-away crashes between 1987 and 2000 on roads in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and WA, involving cars built between 1982 and 2000.
The ratings show how well a model protects its driver in an accident (crashworthiness), and also how much it endangers the driver of another vehicle involved in the crash (aggressivity).
THE MAIN FINDINGS
The results show some trends:
* Larger and more expensive used car models usually offer better protection for their drivers--not least because safety equipment such as airbags and ABS brakes weren't commonly found in smaller cars until recently.
* Heavy cars (such as big 4WDs and some large sedans) often have good crashworthiness but bad aggressivity due to simple physics: if a heavy car collides with a light one, the light one is worse off.
* The safety of a particular model often (but not always) improves over time due to better crash design and improved safety equipment.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
If you're in the market for a used car, some of the above findings may not seem very helpful. You probably have a certain budget (so the safer luxury car may not be...
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