The nation’s safety authority, the Australiasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has called into question the safety credentials of US pickup trucks.
The big ute market is booming, with the Toyota Tundra joining the Chevrolet Silverado, Ram 1500 and Ford F-150, but ANCAP chief Carla Hoorweg has admitted her organisation has questions over how dangerous they are for pedestrians.
“We’ve definitely got concerns,” Hoorweg told CarsGuide. “There are a lot of community concerns we are fielding.
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“We’re looking at vehicles that are being designed for the US market, they’re not necessarily going to have a focus on pedestrian protection or vulnerable road user protection, that’s not a focus in those regulations. So we know there’s going to be a gap there.”
However, Hoorweg ruled out ANCAP putting any of the popular models through a full suite of crash testing protocols because they cost too much, as ANCAP would need at least five examples for a full range of crash tests. Instead, they are considering a limited range of tests on the perceived weak-spot in the US trucks armoury.
“We are considering what our options are around physical testing, so there’s potential for pedestrian impact testing,” Hoorweg said.
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In the first eight months of 2024 Australians have bought 6833 examples of the big American trucks, including the even larger Silverado HD and Ram 2500 and 3500 models. That’s down 3.9 per cent on the same period in 2023, but there’s no sign the market will collapse anytime soon. Instead it will go in November when the Toyota Tundra officially goes on sale.
ANCAP has previously indicated it would look at the active safety of large utes and light trucks, telling this journalist earlier in 2024 that it was considering such a program when questioned about the lack of safety rating for the popular Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series. That vehicle is no longer rated by ANCAP, despite its popularity, as Toyota was able to reclassify it as a ‘light truck’ in late 2022; after nearly four decades on sale as a utility.
In comments sent to this reporter in May, Hoorweg urged ute buyers to consider the age of vehicles they plan to buy and the impact that will have on their safety in the event of an accident.
“It is important to recognise that the LandCruiser 70 Series is an ageing platform,” Hoorweg said. “We would therefore encourage fleets and consumers to consider some of the more recently rated five-star light commercials as they are equipped with the latest structural safety elements and broad range of collision avoidance features.”
What do you think – are US-style pickups dangerous on Australian roads? Should more utes be tested by ANCAP?
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