09 Jul 07
In the 70s it was a big deal that Jimmy Savile wanted us to actually use our seatbelts. 'Clunk click,' he urged, 'every trip.'
Things have moved a long way since then. Now it's barely newsworthy when a new car gets a five-star Euro NCAP crash test score. But the Nissan Qashqai has made us sit up and pay attention again by recording the highest score for the adult occupant protection part of the Euro NCAP test - ever, by any type of car.
How did the Qashqai do so well? And how can Nissan - and everybody else - improve on it? Because with the latest official figures showing 1,612 people dying on Britain's roads last year, there's clearly still work to be done.
Different colours show different grades of steel in the Qashqai's crash structure
But first, a quick catch-up for anyone who, like me, thought that one five-star rating was much the same as another. In fact, the adult occupant protection test has a maximum points score of 37: 16 for the front offset crash, 16 for the side impact crash, two for the side pole crash, and three for the prosaic matter of seatbelt reminders.
Out of a possible 37, the Qashqai got 36.83. That's not a million miles ahead of the opposition in the small family category - the Mercedes A-Class, Citroen C4, Ford Focus and Toyota Auris all have 35 points or above. But any tiny improvement could be the difference between life and death.
Why did it fall 0.17 short of a perfect score? The chest of the dummy in the driver's seat deformed by 1.2mm too much. According to Nissan's R&D team, the dummy could easily have avoided that 1.2mm of damage if it had been seated just a fraction differently. But they're not complaining; the rules are the same for everyone.
