At the Automobile Association (AA) and Global NCAP Forum for Safer Mobility, the updated Toyota Starlet took centre stage achieving a four-star safety rating under the Safer Cars for Africa programme. The improvement followed the addition of curtain airbags, a feature that allows a vehicle to progress beyond the two-star ceiling applied to models without this protection.
This offered a visible sign of manufacturers responding to recent publicity calling out multiple OEMs for two or less star ratings and inadequate safety ratings for some of the most popular and affordable vehicles on our roads. Yet, the situation is more complex than simply adding more airbags or other safety features required for a 4-star rating.
Economic reality
In an ideal setting, every vehicle on every road would carry the same high safety standard. “Yet economic realities across African markets make that uniformity difficult to achieve in the short term. Vehicle affordability and consumer purchasing power shape what is realistically available to buyers.
“Recognising this, the more constructive path forward is to focus on lifting both accessibility and safety together, rather than setting a bar so high that it narrows the pool of vehicles people can afford even more. This may have the opposite effect of making vehicles with low to non-existent safety ratings surge and decrease purchases of vehicles with higher star ratings.”
When safety improvements are prioritised by manufacturers, while keeping vehicles within reach of ordinary consumers, allows more people to benefit from higher safety standards rather than being pushed toward older or unrated vehicles. “Toyota was cognisant of this need as the newer 4-star rated vehicle does not have a corresponding price increase.
“Toyota rolled out the safety upgrade as a standard production update with no price difference between the 0-rated version and the 4-star version, and no extra cost passed on to consumers. As pressure mounts, with possible legislation on the cards that demands a minimum of four airbags, will less established brands be able to absorb the financial implications of this for the consumer?”
A comprehensive view
While the rating itself is meaningful progress not to be dismissed, vehicle design is only one part of a much wider road safety picture, particularly in a country where additions to safety features would dramatically affect accessibility. “Instead, we should be looking toward a more comprehensive approach to improving road safety.
“This includes improving the driving standards of South Africans. Driver behaviour is linked to over 90% of vehicle fatalities showing that safer driving matters just as much. Within this, further driver training is one of the most effective ways to reduce fatalities alongside vehicle engineering improvements. Additionally, MasterDrive data shows the investment is recouped in as little as four months while also reducing the number of accidents, loss of life and also severity of accidents”
Africa needs a layered approach to safer roads with simultaneous continued investment in vehicle safety technology, a sustained focus on driver training, and policies that improve access to safer vehicles rather than restrict it. “Progress in one of these areas helps but progress across all three will have best effect on road safety,” says Herbert.
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