The Birmingham Post reports that our Land Rover models were named as among the worst in a safety survey yesterday. The newspaper said that nearly a quarter of all vehicle seats are still offering poor or only marginal protection from whiplash injuries, according to the research. Three of Land Rover’s Freelander models and one from its Defender range were placed in the 18 worst offenders.
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But the Solihull company said it was committed to safety and highlighted Department of Transport data on real crash situations which placed the Defender and Discovery as the two safest vehicles.
According to the latest survey, by Thatcham, the Berkshire based motor insurance repair research centre, of nearly 400 of the most popular models tested, six per cent offered poor protection and 17 per cent marginal.
Also, the number of models rated poor fell 64 per cent.
‘Many motor manufacturers are now listening to our advice but some are not and are still producing unsafe seats,’ said Thatcham crash laboratory manager Matthew Avery, quoted in the Post.
More than 200,000 British motorists are injured in low speed rear shunts each year with 2,000 of them having some form of permanent disability, the report said.
Thatcham issued warnings to manufacturers last year about the dangers. The company said yesterday that the improvement in seat design meant there was likely to be a 40 per cent decrease in whiplash injuries.
A Land Rover spokesman told the Birmingham Post: ‘Land Rover welcomes any survey that will help buyers make a more informed purchase decision, and on the whole is satisfied with the performance of its products in the New Car Head Restraint Ratings 2003.
‘Land Rover’s aim is to design cars that offer high levels of protection over a wide range of real crash conditions on and offroad and the company continues to take an active lead in industry discussions with Euro-NCAP to improve the technical validity of the programme.
‘Land Rover has a policy of continuous improvement and this applies to safety as much as it does to other vehicle attributes.
‘It is also important to note that in recently published Department of Transport data it was concluded, following 150 recorded collisions, that 4×4 vehicles are the safest in real crash situations, with the Defender and Discovery named as the two safest vehicles of all, respectively.’
The 18 models rated poor this year were: Alfa Romeo 156 3.2 GTA Audi A6 1.9 TDI Daewoo Matiz SE+ Fiat Seicento 1.1 Sporting Land Rover Freelander 2.0 TD ES three-door Land Rover Freelander 2.0 TD ES five-door Land Rover Freelander 1.8 Serengeti Land Rover Defender 2.5 TD Mazda 2 1.4 TS2 Seat Arosa 1.4 S Skoda Octavia 1.4 Classic Skoda 1.9 TD Ambiente Skoda 1.9 TD Elegance EST Volkswagen Bora 1.9 TDI PD SE Volkswagen Bora 2.3 V5 Volkswagen Passat 1.9 TD S Volkswagen Passat 2.8 V6 4 Motion Volkswagen Passat 1.9 TD SE.
