Used car safety ratings 2014

If you're in the market for a second-hand car, its safety in the event of an accident is a key factor to consider.

The 2014 Used Car Safety Ratings reflect crash statistics from 239 second-hand vehicle models. The ratings give you information about:

• a vehicle's capacity to protect the driver and other road users in the event of an accident
• which cars are awarded a 'Safe Pick'.

A Safe Pick rating is given to vehicles that cause fewer injuries to other road users in a collision, including other drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists, and provide excellent protection for their own occupants.

Used car safety ratings vs ANCAP safety ratings

ANCAP safety ratings take in crash prevention technology and data from the simulation of common crash scenarios on new cars in a controlled laboratory setting. These ratings are best used to select a new car where no other safety data is available.

But when looking for a safer used car, the used car safety ratings (UCSR) should be used instead of ANCAP ratings. UCSR are updated annually using data from millions of police reports on actual crashes. They can also be compared across all car categories, unlike ANCAP ratings.

How are the safety ratings calculated?

Monash University's Accident Research Centre analyses records from more than 7 million vehicles in police-reported road crashes in Australia and New Zealand between 1987 and 2012. They use an internationally reviewed method to calculate the ratings, which takes into consideration the vehicles' mass, structural design and safety features, and by controlling for a range of non-vehicle related factors known to affect injury outcome. Factors considered were the sex and age of the person whose injury outcome was being measured, speed limit at the crash location, the number of vehicles involved, and the location and year of the crash. The ratings in the 2014 update have been recalculated based on the most recent crash data available so they're not comparable with previously published ratings.

A combination of the following aspects is used to form the safety rating:

• Crashworthiness The ability of a vehicle to protect its driver in the event of a crash.
• Aggressivity The level of impact on other road users – including other drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists – that the vehicle collides with.
• Total secondary safety Combines crashworthiness and aggressivity to determine a vehicle's overall injury outcome in a crash. This rating measures the estimated risk of death or serious injury to all road users.

Results are taken from www.howsafeisyourcar.com.au. Results are funded by the Vehicle Safety Research Group and conducted by the Monash University Accident Research Centre. The Used Car Safety Ratings are supported by Australian motoring organisations, the Australian government, state governments, and the New Zealand Transport Agency.

We have used car safety ratings for the following categories:

• Compact SUVs
• Medium SUVs
• Large SUVs
• Light cars
• Small cars
• Medium cars
• Large cars
• People movers
• Vans
• Utes

Compact SUVs

Medium SUVs

Large SUVs

Light cars

Small cars

Medium cars

Large cars

People movers

Vans

Utes