The RTA and the NRMA said that while the safety of commercial vans had improved with a number of four-star vans on the road, recent crash testing showed that drivers’ legs were still vulnerable upon impact.

NSW Centre For Road Safety Director Dr Soames Job said manufacturers need to start addressing the safety and integrity of commercial vans as diligently as they approach the safety of passenger vehicles.

“There are many commercial vehicles sold in Australia each year and the safety rating of some of these high-use vans is simply not good enough,” Dr Job said.

“The problems were highlighted with the Ford Transit Van and Suzuki APV van attracting three star results.”

The concerns were echoed by NRMA vehicle safety expert Jack Haley who said that during testing of the Ford Transit Van, the passenger compartment lost integrity in the frontal offset test.

“This resulted in a ‘poor’ protection rating for the driver, who would likely succumb to a serious leg injury, while chest protection for both driver and passenger was rated ‘weak’,” Mr Haley said.

“The Suzuki APV’s passenger compartment held its shape reasonably well – apart for the footwell – with protection from serious leg injury rated ‘poor’ for the driver.”

During 2008, ANCAP released four-star ratings for the Mercedes Vito and VW Transporter citing there was just a slight risk of lower leg injury.

Mr Haley said these two models demonstrated that commercial vans can be designed to reduce the risk of leg injury.

Results were also released from EuroNCAP, which uses the same crash-testing protocols as ANCAP. These included 4-star ratings for the Mercedes Vito, VW Caddy Van and VW Transporter, a 3-star rating for the Toyota HiAce and a 1-star rating for the Mitsubishi Express.

ANCAP is supported by all Australian and New Zealand motoring clubs, all Australian state governments, the New Zealand government, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission, NRMA Insurance and the FIA Foundation. For a full list of vehicle crash ratings, go to www.mynrma.com.au/ancap or www.rta.nsw.gov.au.
Images and datasheets are available at http://homepage.mac.com/vdrsyd