It's no secret modern cars are safer than their older counterparts - that's the purpose of progress, really, to make things better under all aspects. The question is, just how much safer are they?
To put things into perspective, apparently, you are twice more likely to die in a car crash if you find yourself in a car built before the year 2000. Well, at least that's what AA New Zealand thinks, and they also have a video to support that affirmation.
Sure, you can read all this and think "OK, I'm not too eager to die in a car accident myself, so who's going to give me the money to buy a new car, hey?" and, like many other people in your position, you would be right. With this in mind, the closing of the AA New Zealand's short video description sounds a bit cynical: "Safety isn't a luxury."
Well, guess what: unfortunately, for some, that's exactly what it is. Of course, there are those who buy a new car and completely ignore all the safety-related extras, opting instead for larger wheels and leather interior, but we each have our own priorities.
Back to the experiment at hand, with help from the ANCAP (Australian New Car Assessment Program, or the Aussie version of the EuroNCAP), AA New Zealand staged a confrontation between a 1998 Toyota Corolla and a 2015 Toyota Auris. Both models are hatchbacks that sit in the same market segment, so despite the different name, they make for suitable comparison subjects.
Right off the bat, we can see how much vehicles have grown over the course of just 17 years. It's well known that the current Volkswagen Polo is larger than the first Golf, even though it sits one tier lower, but all the technology and all those crumpling zones have to nestle somewhere.
And this clip shows just how important these advancements are. In fact, the results are nothing short of horrifying for those sitting in the 1998 Corolla. The cars had been lined up for a 50 percent overlap frontal collision on the driver's side with each test vehicle doing 64 km/h (40 mph).
The video does end with a great piece of advice from Stella Stocks, the AA Motoring Services General Manager who also serves as the clip's narrator and presenter: "Always buy the safest car that you can afford." It might seem obvious, but when the time comes, not everybody acts this way.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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