In the first test of its kind, Global NCAP has crashed the best-selling bakkie in Africa, the 2019 Nissan NP300 Hardbody, into a second-hand Nissan Navara NP300 manufactured in Europe in 2015.
According to the AA, this unique car to car crash test graphically demonstrates the double standard currently applied by Nissan and other car makers to vehicle safety in Africa.
The difference in safety performance between the new African model and the second-hand European version is a matter of life and death. The crash test driver dummy in the new African Nissan would have likely sustained fatal injuries, the driver of the equivalent second-hand European model would have likely walked away from the crash. The second-hand European car is fitted with the lifesaving crash avoidance anti-skid system, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), the new African version is not.
Launched to coincide with this week’s Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Sweden, both of the crashed vehicles will be on public display as part of the ‘People’s Exhibition’ in Stockholm Central Railway Station. Global NCAP is partnering with the Global NGO Alliance for Road Safety in hosting the exhibition. The call to action from the #50by30 themed display will be the adoption of a new target to halve road deaths and serious injuries by 2030 by governments worldwide.
“This is a very dramatic car to car crash test which uniquely illustrates the double standard in vehicle safety performance between models sold in Europe and those sold in Africa,” said David Ward CEO and President of Global NCAP.
“The difference in crashworthiness is extraordinary. The new Nissan Hardbody performs significantly worse than the second-hand Nissan Navara, to the extent that the driver in the new African Nissan would likely have died from their injuries but the driver from the second-hand European Nissan would have walked away.
“A new car in Africa is not necessarily a safer car. Second-hand imported cars from regions with tougher regulatory requirements for safety, and environmental performance, can offer consumers much greater protection.
“Our aim in publishing this crash test result to coincide with the Global Ministerial Conference in Sweden is very clear. As we approach the end of the first UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, and set an agenda for the next ten years, the double standard demonstrated by an auto manufacturer such as Nissan with the NP300 in Africa is utterly unacceptable.”
You can watch the video of the crash below:
