Road Safety

Many 4x4s do not score as highly as cars in the EuroNCap crash tests. These are documented facts, something which cannot be argued with.

We do not design 4x4 vehicles, so we would not be so presumptuous as to claim expertise on how vehicle design is progressing, nor do we feel it is our right to impose a viewpoint on those who would wish to drive a 4x4. The Ncap tests are published and used by manufacturers to promote their vehicles. It is our opinion that each individual should take notice of these results, and make an informed decision about their choice of vehicle.

It should be noted that 4x4's match many "normal" cars in the results of these tests.....

Euro NCAP Star Ratings
Vehicle Front & Side Impact Rating Pedestrian Test Rating
2002 Range Rover Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star White Rating Star Green Rating Star White Rating Star White Rating Star White Rating Star
2002 Honda CR-V Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star White Rating Star Green Rating Star Green Rating Star Green Rating Star White Rating Star
2004 VW Touareg Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Green Rating Star White Rating Star White Rating Star White Rating Star
2003 Volvo XC90 Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Green Rating Star Green Rating Star White Rating Star White Rating Star
2003 Audi A3 Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star White Rating Star Green Rating Star White Rating Star White Rating Star White Rating Star
2004 Ford Focus Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Green Rating Star Green Rating Star White Rating Star White Rating Star
2004 Fiat Panda Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star Yellow Rating Star White Rating Star White Rating Star Green Rating Star White Rating Star White Rating Star White Rating Star

Data from the official Euro NCAP website

The above data shows that the claims of 4x4's being "fortresses" and a "massive danger to other users" are greatly exaggerated. The 2002 Range Rover has the SAME ratings as the 2003 Audi A3.. the 2002 Honda CR-V has a BETTER pedestrian rating than the highly scored Ford Focus.
It is easy to pick and choose examples which best suit our argument, just as it is to try and "prove" that 4x4's are especially dangerous. Once again, the truth is not quite so black and white.

More important than any crash test figures, we must all come to the realisation that the vehicles do not cause the accidents !

There are many people driving around our nation's roads who, quite frankly, shouldn't be. If we put as much effort into teaching drivers road safety, defensive driving, courtesy and plain, old fashioned good manners as we do into trying to impose a vehicle choice upon them, there might be fewer accidents in the first place.
15-20 years ago, children had road safety drummed into them. They had to stay by a parent crossing a road, they had a healthy fear of motor vehicles, road awareness formed part of their school education.
20 years ago, there was nowhere near the volume of traffic that we currently have, and yet the road safety message seems to have been diluted and reduced to the occasional cartoon on children's TV.

The number of pedestrians injured by vehicles on our roads each year is horrifying. Interestingly, a TRL study carried out in 2003 for the government revealed that more than seven out of ten of young adult pedestrians (aged between 16 -34) killed on the UK's roads and included in the study had been drinking.
The incidence of pedestrian fatalities with more than two and a half times the legal limit of alcohol for drivers in their systems has risen by 50 per cent in the past 15 years.

We call on all parties to stop misdirecting the focus of road safety campaigns against a vehicle type, or group of owners and instead campaign for a return to self-responsibility, to helping parents educate their children to the dangers of our roads and to provide a road network with FEWER accidents, rather than accidents with less severe consequences.

In case it is on your mind..... One of the authors of this website has been driving for 14 years and has covered hundreds of thousands of miles, almost entirely in 4x4s. He has no convictions, no offences and has not had an accident.

People Cause Accidents.... Not Vehicles.

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