Waka Kotahi NZTA is hoping new car safety rating labels can help Kiwis make potentially life-saving choices when they go to buy a new vehicle.
The transport agency is launching new labels clearly marking a car between one to five stars. The ratings are based on laboratory crash test results for new cars, and analysis of 8 million real-world crashes for used imports.
People are more than twice as likely to survive a crash in a five-star-rated car than another with one star, NZTA director of land transport Kane Patena said.
“We want everyone to be able to choose the safest car they can afford, and these labels will help make that choice easier.”
The labels are designed to be displayed on cars when they’re on sale, and will sit alongside the compulsory Vehicle Fuel Economy Label. When traders make these labels for their vehicles, they can choose to automatically generate a safety label too.
The initiative is part of NZTA’s Road to Zero strategy, which aims to achieve “Vision Zero” of no deaths or serious injuries on roads.
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