Global NCAP’s Car to Car Test Demonstrates Zero Star Double Standard on Vehicle Safety

28 June 2022

Launched on the eve of the first UN General Assembly High Level meeting on Road Safety in New York, Global NCAP announces the results of a dramatic car to car crash test today (28th) and demonstrates the double standards that apply to vehicle safety across national borders.

An Hyundai Grand i10 sedan sold in Mexico has been crashed into a comparable Hyundai Accent sold in the US. Both models are the cheapest sedans from the manufacturer that consumers can buy in their respective markets.*

The Hyundai Accent produced for the US market offers 6 airbags and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) as standard. However, the i10 model produced for Mexico and other Latin American markets is fitted with only two frontal airbags.

The protection the Accent offered to its driver during the crash test was good and the model showed a stable structure. The Grand i10 however showed an unstable structure and poor protection to the driver with a high probability of life-threatening injuries. The Hyundai sold in Mexico would be rated as a zero star car by Latin NCAP.

David Ward, Towards Zero Foundation Executive President said: "Double standards in vehicle safety are too often the ‘stock-in-trade’ of auto industry associations. And that is why this week’s UN High Level Meeting in New York needs to send a clear message to the auto industry to stop their delaying tactics & apply the most important vehicle safety regulations worldwide.”

Watch the Car-on-Car crash test here: h ttps://youtu.be/2eGpXyAQzuU