| Safety group EuroNCAP has hit out at the standards
in pick-ups after releasing the results for the first three vehicles it
has tested in this category. Two of the three vehicles received poor ratings
for occupant safety, and there were criticisms of all three across other
aspects.
EuroNCAP said: “The safety of vehicles in this category is not a
high priority for some carmakers.”
EuroNCAP secretary general Michiel van Ratingen said that the organisation
had started testing pick-ups because it had become evident that the vehicles
were now being used in Europe as family vehicles as an alternative to
a conventional car.
“Manufacturers must realise that we will test all cars that could
have an impact on the safety of European consumers,” he said.
In the tests, the Nissan Navara and the Isuzu D-Max Rodeo both received
poor scores in the adult occupant rating. The Navara received an “extremely
poor” one-star-strikethrough rating, and Nissan has now announced
a service campaign that will improve the airbag software on all the vehicles
back to the start of production. EuroNCAP is now testing the modified
vehicle.
The Isuzu vehicle received a two-stars-strikethrough rating in adult occupant
protection with what EuroNCAP called “an unacceptably high risk
of life-threatening injury to the chest region”.
The best of the new pick-ups tested, EuroNCAP said, was the Mitsubishi
l200, which received a four-star rating for adult occupant protection.
But all the vehicles received poor child occupant and pedestrian protection
ratings.
• EuroNCAP also released ratings for the Suzuki Splash, Daihatsu
Terios, Renault Kangoo, Citroën C5 and BMW X3. Only the Citroën
C5 received five stars in the adult occupant protection category, and
its seatbelt reminder system does not meet EuroNCAP standards for the
front seat passenger.
EuroNCAP was also disappointed that the advanced pedestrian protection
system on the Citroën C6 had not been used on the C5, which received
only a two-star assessment in this category.
Full details of the ratings are on the
EuroNCAP website.
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