Land Rover’s all new Freelander 2 has been awarded a top five star rating in the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) for adult passenger safety. It also achieved four stars in the child protection category. In both the adult and child ratings it achieved the highest points of any vehicle in its category, making the Freelander 2 best in class for occupant safety.

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The new Fiat Bravo has just been awarded a five star Euro NCAP crash safety rating, placing it at the top of its category for safety, with a total score of 33 points. This is an important accolade which, together with similar ratings given to the Grande Punto and Fiat Croma, is confirmation of the Italian auto maker’s commitment to all aspects of driver and passenger protection.

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Euro NCAP today releases the results of five cars: the Fiat Bravo, the Honda CR-V, the Honda Legend, the Mitsubishi Outlander and the Toyota Corolla. The Fiat Bravo, the Toyota Corolla and the Honda Legend have all been awarded the maximum five star rating for adult occupant protection. The CR-V and the Outlander have both been awarded four stars for adult occupant protection. The Legend is Honda's first five star car. It has also scored three stars for pedestrian protection, featuring an active protection system which detects when a pedestrian has been struck and raises the bonnet to prevent the pedestrian contacting hard components in the engine bay.

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Brake discs are wearing out faster, warping and losing their braking performance earlier on some modern vehicles according to a new report. Mail order supplier Car Parts Direct claims it is regularly supplying replacement brake discs for nearly new cars that have been driven for less than 25,000 miles. Early brake disc wear appears to be a combination of problems. Modern brake pads are more abrasive due to harder compounds used in brake pad material and so wear discs faster. Inferior brake discs imported from the Far East could be to blame for some car makers.

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Drivers of Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and other high performance cars are risking an accident and injury on wet roads because of worn tyres, according to research released by TyreSafe, Britain’s foremost tyre safety organisation. One of the UK’s largest suppliers of high performance tyres and a major TyreSafe supporter has, over a two month period, checked on the condition of tyres removed from high performance cars at their depot in the south of England. The results give cause for concern says TyreSafe. A dramatic 30% of the tyres removed were either defective or badly worn, almost three times the national average*.

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Subaru of America, Inc. announced that the 2007 Subaru Legacy and Outback earned the highest rating in the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) crash tests. The Subaru Legacy and Outback received five stars in both the frontal and side-impact crash tests for all seating positions.

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A quick glance through TRL's report on roadside safety barriers and 4x4s and MPVs shows a very different picture to that painted in many of today's press reports. The authors reviewed National Accident Statistics and DVLA data and conclude that drivers and passengers of 4x4s and MPVs are less likely to be killed or seriously injured than those in other types of car. TRL's research also shows that 4x4s and MPVs are involved in fewer impacts with crash barriers. Just two per cent of strikes involve 4x4s / MPVs. But on Britain's roads these vehicles make up 10.1 per cent of the total fleet1. That means 4x4s and MPVs are five times less likely to be involved in this type of collision.

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Long before the Subaru Outback coined the term “Sport Utility Vehicle” the modern SUV was a favorite of the American auto buying public. The GMC Jimmy, Jeep Wagoneer and infamous Ford Bronco were on the streets picking up kids from soccer practice and getting lousy gas mileage. But it was during this hybrid period where it appeared that the old 70’s station wagon had gotten a flashy new makeover and a new moniker that a startling trend began to happen: these new SUVs weren’t very safe.

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At the prestigious 2007 What Car? Car of the Year Awards, Mercedes-Benz received two prizes – for its pioneering safety work, and once again for the S-Class luxury Saloon. In the centenary year of the birth of the father of automotive safety, Béla Barényi – a Mercedes engineer who invented crumple zones and the passenger safety cell amongst other devices – the Safety Award is particularly timely.

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Everybody knows Škoda’s Roomster is one of the most versatile vehicles on the market with its adaptable interior and clever storage solutions, but now Europe’s top car safety boffins have proven that it’s also up there with the safest.

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