ANCAP has slammed the Mitsubishi Express with a one-star rating because of its lack of active safety and poor collision performance.
The recently launched Mitsubishi Express has been handed a one-star rating by ANCAP following local testing. The van, according to ANCAP, provided marginal occupant protection and featured no active safety system (a prerequisite to be eligible for a five-star rating).
“Unfortunately we saw below par performance for protection of occupants and vulnerable road users from the Express, with results lowered even further due to a fundamental lack of active safety systems,” ANCAP Chief Executive, Carla Hoorweg.
Mitsubishi Express (frontal offset).
After testing, ANCAP noted “risk of serious injury to the chest of the driver in three of the four destructive crash tests (frontal offset, full width frontal and oblique pole tests). A penalty was also applied for potential hard knee contact points for the driver in frontal crashes, and close to the maximum penalty applied for “aggressivity” in frontal collisions with other vehicles. Further penalties were applied for significant deformation of the side cargo door in both the side impact and pole tests creating openings through which partial ejection may be possible”.
It gets worse. “A high risk of neck injury was recorded for the driver in the whiplash test, with passenger whiplash injury risk likely to be higher due to the basic design of the bench seat and head restraints fitted for the two front-row passenger seating positions. There is no chest-protecting side airbag fitted on the passenger side, nor is a centre airbag fitted for protection in side crashes. A frontal airbag for the centre passenger seating position is also not offered,” ANCAP said in a statement.
The zero star rating for the Express will rule it out as an option for many fleets around the country requiring five-star vehicles. Mitsubishi had yet to respond at the time of publication.
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