It is often believed that old cars were made tough whereas the new cars are fragile. Quite a large number of people have this misconception, particularly due to the fact that they see old cars surviving minor dings and bangs with ease while the new ones doesn’t.
Related: Vehicle Safety: Past vs Present
The fact is, new cars are designed to absorb the impact and are meant to protect the cabin, means its ‘occupants’. No matter how severe the crash impact is, the passenger compartment of the newer cars remain intact, while in case of old cars- it just lethally crumples.
Crash testing bodies that are responsible to evaluate the safety of new cars, constantly come up with examples demonstrating how safe the newer cars are compared to the ones from the past which are believed to be safer. One such test was conducted by ANCAP.
Related: C-NCAP Tests World’s First 90 Degrees Car-to-Car Collision
The video below shows the 1998 Toyota Corolla against its 2015 model sibling and it just shows how efficiently the new model protects its occupants whereas the older one, which was obviously never designed to absorb the impact, fails to protect its passengers.
It is sadly common that scarcely equipped cars are being offered in developing markets by car makers, either by re-producing outdated cars or engineering simpler cars taking away their safety features while their price stays the same.
Related: What Happens when Rusty Cars are Crash Tested?
And while developed countries today require automakers to offer modern active and passive safety equipment as standard, in Pakistan even a single airbag is a scarce example and is considered a ‘luxury’ blessed upon us by the automakers. It’s high time for us to take safety as priority and embrace safer cars rather than going for resale-friendly death traps.
A computer animation professional with over 23 years of industry experience having served in leading organizations, TV channels & production facilities in Pakistan. An avid car enthusiast and petrolhead with an affection to deliver quality content to help shape opinions. Formerly written for PakWheels as well as major publications including Dawn. Founder of CarSpiritPK.com
