Safety features

r15, Jun 17, 7:03am
how much does anyone actually factor this into the purchase of a new / used vehicle they are looking to buy!

personally im not really interested.
i would rather have a nice to drive or reliable car than a safe one if it was a trade off for my price.

i've crashed 1 vehicle in my life, at a speed far too high (lost it at over 100) and it was a 1990 corolla hatch.no injuries.

i could spend a lot of money to buy the latest safest vehicle to get a thousand air bags and a 10 out of 5 safety rating, but to be honest i'd be paying for features i have no intention of using, and statisticly am unlikely to need.

which brings on the question : how MUCH safer are these "safer" vehicles! probably not a hell of a lot in real world typical accidents

sure a golf might be half a star safer than the competition, but who really cares!none of my 'real world' friends particularly care, all saying it would be nice if their car was safer, but not something that would make or break a car buying deal
dunwoody, Jun 17, 7:14am
Just another expensive thing to go wrong.
smac, Jun 17, 7:52am
The changing relationship between accident rates, fatality rates, and injury rates would indicate that the safety features available in newer vehicles do in fact save lives. It's not always clear cut (for example webbing grabber seatbelts kill old frail people rather than save them) but overall the evidence is there. Set your existing opinion aside and do some reading of the available research.

Whether or not these features are worth the money to the individual is something only the individual can answer. 10 years, maybe even 5 years ago I would probably agree with you. Would rather have the money in my pocket. However now with a little fulla dependant on me my view is changing. If we get hit I want a gajllion airbags around him.

Cost is coming down too obviously. 10 years ago airbags were a premium, now mandatory. 10 years time I imagine the ESC and speed/obstruction sensing tech will be the same.

I guess it's similar to the argument for health/life insurance. Some would say wasted money, others say they can't afford NOT to have it.
johnf_456, Jun 17, 8:04am
I don't take any interest at all, if you are super paranoid don't drive. Everything in life has a risk factor to it. I go for whats good for me, good price, easy to fix, spare parts, brand and looks. Personally I prefer as car with less crap in it, lighter and less head aches. Just sourcing some replacement air bag related parts for my friends Audi they sure ain't cheap.

The best safety you can have is the human behind the wheel, who knows how to drive properly, safely and defensively.
jason18, Jun 17, 8:07am
Right on. No amount of safety features will save a dumb ass behind a wheel.
berg, Jun 17, 8:32am
I work it this way, I would rather be driving a 5 star safety rated car than a 3 star safety rated car when hit by a 1 star safety rated driver. Ask yourself, how much do I trust other drivers on NZ roads! Not just our own but import drivers from dodgy driving countries as well.
When looking at that without even considering my own driving experience, I want every safety feature I can get.
jason18, Jun 17, 8:35am
Im thinking of buying an old army tank and driving that around. Parking might be a bitch but at least no bastard can hit and injure/kill me
crzyhrse, Jun 17, 8:47am
I don't factor the 'star rating' into my vehicle purchase decisions at all.
cjohnw, Jun 17, 9:13am
I don't know how young some of you people are, but when you eventually start putting your babies and children in your cars, safety features may well become more of a "front of brain" issue.
clark20, Jun 17, 9:55am
I took the advice of a policeman, in the serious crash unit, that the best cars he sees for people walking away from was the Commodore, this helped my decision to get one
purple666, Jun 17, 11:15am
Grandkids used to love going for drive in my old dodges because no seat belts and plenty of room to lark about, just like when I was a kid
elect70, Jun 22, 5:01am
Yep you never know your lucklast prang I saw was2000 BMW535with mid age couple hit by WRXair bagsbelts all in but killed & kid in WRX lost a leg