Buying a new car: Go for a lean, clean, safe machine

Buying a ‘top in class’ car for environmental performance can save enough carbon dioxide each year to fill one hundred and seventeen medium sized cars, but would it save your life? This is the question being posed by the RAC Foundation, as the new ’57 plates’ hit the showrooms this weekend.

Following the poor crash test performance of the G-Wizz electric car many have unfairly branded green cars as ‘unsafe’. RAC Foundation analysis of European data from EcoTest (ecotest.eu) and Euro NCAP crash tests (euroncap.com) demonstrates that this is not necessarily the case, but good information needs to be systematically available to the car buying public to ensure that people can evaluate the options available. Some top green and safe cars within their own class include

Toyota Prius 1.5 Hybrid Executive
Citroen C5 Kombi HDi 110 FAP Tendance (Diesel)
BMW 318d (RPF) (Diesel)
Audi A6 2.0 TDI (RPF) (Diesel)
Opel Zafira 1.6 CNG Edition (Gas)

Smart “green” car buying can reduce a persons carbon footprint by 8% and create a yearly fuel saving of at least £106 , but with less than half (44%) of the Government’s recommended environmentally friendly vehicles coming with life saving Electronic Stability Control (ESC) equipment as standard it is clear that new car buyers need to pick and choose their lean, clean, safe machine.

Road crashes could be reduced by more than 20 per cent, especially in wet or icy conditions, by cars being fitted with Electronic Stability Control (ESC), yet just 55% of new cars sold it the UK fit ESC as standard and even fewer greener cars (44%) are sold with standard fitting. In the UK it is estimated that if 90% of cars were fitted with ESC it would save 400 lives and prevent 3,000 serious injuries each year (Thatcham). It is therefore vital that ESC is fitted to all cars, and especially those that are being encouraged for environmental reasons.

Edmund King, Executive Director of the Royal Automobile Club Foundation said; “Car buyers should not have to choose between a car that saves a life or a car that saves the planet. We do not live in an ideal world, but it is possible to get the best of both worlds in one car, if the right information is made available. The Government’s ‘Act on CO2 campaign’ is a welcome initiative but on its own does not provide enough information for people to purchase a green and safe car most appropriate to their needs.”

“Twenty-one percent of UK motorists believe that better information is the key to reducing CO2 emissions. The Government is encouraging people to buy ‘green’, but it is vital that the cars advertised meet the highest safety standards to avoid the further tragic loss of life on our roads. Motorists should check out EuroNCAP safety ratings as well as Eco-ratings before making the all important purchase.”