More SA deaths likely to happen in cars built in the 1990s, new data show
MOTORISTS are almost twice as likely to die in a crash if they are in one of the 162,432 cars on SA roads built in the 1990s, official figures show.
MOTORISTS at the wheel of hundreds of thousands of 1990s-built cars on South Australian roads are almost twice as likely to die in a crash compared to those in vehicles less than seven years old, official figures show.
The Transport Department has released comprehensive 2017 crash statistics which reveal the dangers of driving cars made before airbags and other safety features became common in the late 1990s.
The shocking figures prompted the Motor Trade Association to renew calls for mandatory annual roadworthy inspections, a system used in other states to make sure the ageing vehicle fleet is kept as safe as possible on the road.
MTA chief executive Paul Unerkov said the figures were proof that age and roadworthiness of the vehicle fleet were crucial to safety.
“Roadworthiness inspections are one of five strategies in total that we believe will assist in reducing the road toll,’’ he said.
“These are lowering the vehicle age seen on our roads, better road conditions, increased driver education and more policing to determine vehicle roadworthiness.’’
“Newer vehicles featuring enhanced safety features being rolled out across the country, lowering the overall vehicle age, will assist in the lowering of the road toll.’’
MTA records show South Australia and Tasmania have the oldest vehicle fleet of any states. The average age of cars in fatality crashes in SA is 15 years, compared to 13 nationally.
In SA, those built in 2000 or earlier account for 21 per cent of the registered vehicle fleet but are in 32 per cent of fatality crashes.
Vehicles built between 2011-2016 make up 32 per cent of the fleet and are in 21 per cent of fatality crashes.
The Transport Department figures show the most dangerous are the cars manufactured in the 1980s. Twenty-four people per 100,000 registered cars died on SA roads in 2017 while in a car from that decade, compared with just five per 100,000 cars made no more than seven years ago.
While those who crash in cars made in the 1980s are almost five times more likely to die, there are only 29,132 of these still registered, compared to 191,225 made in the 1990s.”
In 2017, the average number of fatalities per 100,000 registered vehicles made between 1981 and 2000 was 17. This is compared with just six fatalities per 100,000 vehicles made after 2000.
A State Government spokesman said it was committed to improving road safety, but roadworthy inspections every year would add large costs to running a car.
“The State Government will not be introducing mandatory light vehicle inspections which could increase costs to South Australians,” the spokesman said.
Motorwell Gepps Cross chief mechanic Daniel Andrews said older cars had few, if any, of the safety features which had become standard in the last decade, and owners of older cars often did not want to spend money on their maintenance.
“The new car will have airbags, not just for the driver like some of the old cars, but for the passenger, the side, curtain airbags, as well as modern braking, stability control, traction control, and abs brakes,’’ he said.
“The cars are almost driving themselves compared to what they had in the 1980s and 1990s, with collision alerts, lane detection, blind spot alerts in the mirrors and so on.
He said there was also the issue of maintaining these vehicles “because they are not worth as much to the owner they don’t want to spend a lot of money”.
“The bits and pieces that should get done to keep them as safe as possible aren’t being done because it is only a $500 car.’’
RAA spokesman Mark Borlace said the organisation’s 2018 used car safety ratings buyer guide identified models with high safety ratings, some of which were available for affordable prices.
The guide was printed after studying hundreds of vehicle models built from 1982 to 2016 and involved in more than eight million collisions reported to police across the nation and New Zealand.
“A vehicle’s size and weight, design, and safety features such as airbags and types of seat belts all contributed to its rating,’’ Mr Borlace said.
“The general advice for buying pre-2000 vehicles is to firstly make sure the vehicle has a good safety rating.
“Besides this, always look for it to have airbags — driver, passenger and if possible side airbags.
“You also need to look for any cars that have active safety systems, such as anti-locking brakes and electronic stability control.’’
Motor Accident Commission spokesman Matt Hanton said the uptake of safety features in cars was rapidly increasing.
“The percentage of new cars sold in SA with a 5-star safety rating has more than doubled to 83.9 per cent across the period 2010 to 2016,’’ he said.
“The older the vehicle, the less vehicle safety technologies, and less safety assist technologies, there is increased risk for damage and trauma, in the event of a serious casualty crash.’’