The Automobile Association (AA) believes car manufacturers should raise the safety levels of entry-level models without passing on the cost to consumers.
The AA has been outspoken about the safety of cars sold locally after several controversial low crash-test scores in recent months, and believes the time has come for all cars sold in South Africa, irrespective of grade, to have side curtain airbags as a minimum.
AA CEO Bobby Ramagwede called on government to align South Africa’s minimal safety standards with Europe’s, and criticised carmakers and authorities for dragging their feet when it comes to saving lives.
His remarks follow the recent low ratings received by cars in the Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) Safer Cars for Africa campaign, in which popular sellers such as the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro and Toyota Corolla Cross received only two stars out of a possible five, while the Hyundai Grand i10 earned zero.
Ramagwede said while higher-end models often had sufficient safety features, including side curtain airbags, entry-level examples usually have more basic safety, comprising front and sometimes side airbags but not side curtain airbags.
According to Global NCAP, low ratings were influenced largely by the absence of standard side head protection, a feature Global NCAP regards as essential for modern vehicle safety.
Carmakers should fit side curtain airbags to all their models, and they should not pass on the cost to the consumer, said Ramagwede.
The idea is unlikely to find favour with car companies, given that side airbags costs anywhere from R10,000, but Ramagwede believes safety should not be compromised in any vehicle sold locally.
We want to hold car manufacturers morally to account to improve safety standards.
— AA CEO Bobby Ramagwede
“We want to hold car manufacturers morally to account to improve safety standards,” he said.
He said consumers are guided primarily by price in South Africa, and a number of cars with poor safety records were popular sellers because of their low prices. He acknowledged many first-time car buyers are stepping up from commuting in minibus taxis and believe even the basic safety features of entry-level cars are an improvement over travelling in often poorly driven and poorly maintained taxis.
Responding to the AA’s comments, local market leader Toyota South Africa said it has conducted a curtain shield airbag audit across the entire Toyota model range and plans to correct the specification level of models where curtain shields are absent. It didn’t say whether the cost, which it didn’t specify, would be passed on to consumers.
Ramagwede said car companies have a moral obligation to set minimum safety standards across all their vehicles, and if they didn’t do so willingly, they should be legally compelled to do so.
That approach has proven challenging, and the government is “unwilling and incapable”, he said.
“In 2020, the national regulator for compulsory specifications in South Africa initiated the Safer Vehicles 2025 project, which involved reviewing and tabling proposals to improve minimum vehicle safety standards, but they kicked the can down the road and nothing has happened,” he said.
“There are many lives that could have been saved if we had implemented improved standards on all locally sold cars as many side impact crashes have claimed lives.”
Global NCAP believes the lack of side curtain airbags exposes occupants to a higher risk of severe head injury, even in relatively low speed side impacts with objects such as poles and trees. ABS brakes, airbags and electronic stability control are not mandatory as standard equipment on all new passenger vehicles in South Africa, though many modern vehicles have them as standard.
In addition to improved car safety, road user behaviour and driver training remained a big challenge in terms of preventing road deaths, said Ramagwede.
He believes law enforcement needs to be turned on its head to correct driver behaviour. For example, instead of only checking licences, roadblocks should check vehicles for roadworthiness.
Ramagwede also advocated for “detention” roadblocks where drivers under the influence of alcohol are held on the side of the road until they sober up. He believes such interventions could cause a material change in how motorists view road safety.
He also criticised the K53 driving licence testing system and said it exacerbated the problem by producing drivers who were ill-equipped for real-world driving.
He said the AA is creating an advanced training programme that teaches defensive driving which will be offered at reasonable rates.
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