Aussie Cars to Get Rollover Crash Rating

Despite the fact a rollover strength test for the roof of cars is not yet an Australian Design Rule (ADR), a group of researchers from the NSW Injury Risk Management Research Centre took the matter into their own hands and will begin testing the roof strength for localy-built cars in the next year.

The new test is not yet part of the official Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) crash test operation, but its successful implementation may change that. According to NSW, cited by GoAuto, the strength of a roof will be rated based on the same system used in the US.

Why is such a test needed? NSW Risk Management Centre chair of road safety, Prof Raphael Grzebieta, explains.

“You could have a roof made out of spaghetti and still pass the ADRs. Unfortunately, we have a pretty pathetic federal government in terms of introducing Australian design rules that we know would change the safety of vehicles.”

“We keep getting the excuses coming back about harmonisation with the rest of the world, and that is a crock because we were the first to introduce seatbelts, we were the first to introduce breath tests, we were the first to introduce three point seat belts on to buses and had the rollover tests for buses.”

As said, ANCAP welcomes the initiative and is even looking into ways to implement a similar system into its own testing program.

“It is an important issue, but we are not ready for rollover tests just yet,” ANCAP chairman Lachlan McIntosh told GoAuto.((“We need to see research and results,” he said. “There is still some work to be done."