The following description was taken from A few minutes on-line could save your life on the road :

Kiwis are being urged to spend a few potentially life-saving minutes checking out the latest used vehicle safety ratings published on the Rightcar website today.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has released comprehensive updates to the safety ratings for all used light vehicles in Aotearoa today, including publishing information about crash avoidance features in used imported light vehicles for the first time.

RightCar website(external link)

The safety-star ratings provide the best indication of how well vehicles will protect people involved in a crash, while crash avoidance features such as Autonomous Emergency Braking and Lane Keep Assist help prevent crashes from occurring at all, explains Waka Kotahi Senior Manager Road Safety Fabian Marsh.

“Together, passive crash protection and active crash avoidance features provide the best safety outcomes for everyone on the road. That’s why we’ve sourced crash avoidance features data for used imports from manufacturers. This information supplements the star-ratings and makes Rightcar an even better source for people to find the safest vehicle they can afford.”

Previously crash avoidance features data was only available on Rightcar for NZ-new vehicles.

Mr Marsh says the evidence is clear – people are twice as likely to survive a crash in a 5-star safety rated vehicle than in a one or two-star vehicle. Waka Kotahi encourages people to check the latest safety ratings, as vehicles’ ratings change over time.

“This is because the annual updated ratings factor in independent analysis of the latest real-world crash data and assesses relative safety of used vehicles compared to all vehicles on the road – including newer, safer ones.

Since last year the primary safety rating measure on Rightcar and third-party websites such as Trademe is now ‘overall safety’ (which considers all road users including people in other cars, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists).  This change was supported by motor vehicle industry associations, who agree with Waka Kotahi it’s crucial to consider all people using our roads.