Skip to main content

Used Car Safety Ratings help motorists make safer choices

Monday, 20 February 2023

Safety ratings for almost 400 vehicles manufactured from the year 2000 onwards have been released as part of the South Australian government’s bid to help motorists make safer vehicle choices.

The Department for Infrastructure and Transport, together with the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC), has released the latest used car safety information to help people choose the safest vehicle for their budget.

As a guide to help used car buyers prioritise safety, the Used Car Safety Ratings (UCSR) lists 389 models by market segment and their safety rating, based on police-reported crash analysis of more than 9 million vehicles across Australia and New Zealand.

Three out of four vehicles purchased in Australia each year are used vehicles and these ratings provide potential buyers, whether it’s a first car or not, with additional information to help them compare the safety performance of older vehicles and encourage them to choose a vehicle with a superior level of safety.

The UCSR illustrate the risk of death or serious injury to the driver of the vehicle in a crash, with the models offering the highest safety performance a five-star rating and the poorest performing vehicles one star.
The ratings cover:

  • Crashworthiness: the relative safety of vehicles in preventing death or serious injury to their own drivers in crashes
  • Aggressivity: the serious injury risk vehicles pose to other road users with whom they collide. This includes unprotected road users such as pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists and drivers of other vehicles involved in a crash.
  • Total Secondary Safety Index: integrates into one measure the combined Crashworthiness and Aggressivity performance of a vehicle.

A driver of the worst scoring vehicle is over eight times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than the driver in the best scoring vehicle.

While newer vehicles are generally safer than older vehicles, it is important that you check the individual ratings before buying a used car to make a safe choice.

Vehicles marked ‘Safer Pick’ are the highest performing vehicle models and indicate safer choices, with these vehicles featuring driver assist technologies which have been shown to reduce the likelihood of being involved in a crash.

A full list of Used Car Safety Ratings as evaluated in 2022 can be found on the My Licence website at www.mylicence.sa.gov.au/road-rules/the-drivers-handbook/safer-vehicles.