The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has released the Kia Seltos’ crash test results. The mid-size sport utility vehicle scored an overall 5-star rating. ANCAP tested the models on sale in Australia and New Zealand. We miss out on the standard active safety features in the India-spec Seltos. Even so, the results for adult and child occupants, as well as pedestrian head, upper leg, and lower leg impact should be comparable with the India-spec Seltos. In the Adult Occupant Protection category, the Seltos received a score of 85 per cent. This test involves frontal and side crash testing. ANCAP found that during frontal offset tests, there was some intrusion in the passenger compartment in the driver’s footwell near the accelerator. Driver’s lower leg protection was rated ‘weak’. Chest protection for the driver was ‘adequate’, as was lower leg protection of the occupant. Other than this, the protection of vital organs of the driver and front passenger was rated ‘good’. In the full width frontal tests, the protection was ‘good’ for all body parts except the driver’s pelvis, which got ‘poor’ protection. Child occupant protection was rated at 83 per cent. This test was performed with two child dummies in the rear seat -- a 6-year-old in a car seat, and a 10-year old in a booster seat. The former had ‘adequate’ head and neck protection, though the 10-year old had ‘poor’ neck protection in frontal offset tests. All other body parts of child occupants had ‘good’ protection otherwise. ANCAP also tests cars for vulnerable road user protection. This involves five tests: pedestrian head, upper leg, and lower leg impact with the front of the car; and two tests of autonomous emergency braking (AEB). Although its bonnet provides ‘marginal’ protection to the pedestrian’s head, the rear of the bonnet provides ‘poor’ protection. Protection to the pedestrian’s upper and lower leg was ‘good’. The Seltos’ AEB system can detect pedestrians in both day and night, but it lacks cyclist detection. The car scored 4.13 out of 6 in the former test. The Kia Seltos sold in Australia and New Zealand comes with AEB, lane-keeping assist (LKA), Lane Support System (LSS) and Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK) as standard. However, lower-spec variants only get a camera-based AEB system. These systems helped the Seltos get a rating of 70 per cent in the Safety Assist category. However, higher-spec models with the Safety Pack come with radar-guided safety systems, good for a 78 per cent score in the same category. “Base models of the Seltos miss out on some of the more advanced features available with the radar-fusion AEB system, and we would encourage consumers to purchase a variant which offers the enhanced collision avoidance capability as this can translate to real differences on the road,” said ANCAP Chief Executive, James Goodwin. It must be noted that the India-spec Seltos lacks side and curtain airbags as a standard feature. Active safety tech is still a distant prospect given our hazy laws regarding radar-guided control systems. The price of these technologies can be prohibitive for new car buyers. For example, the Aussie GT-Line Seltos costs nearly Rs 3 lakh more than the top-spec Seltos in India. However, the efficacy of these systems is proven time and again by organisations such as NCAP. We hope tests like these will create awareness about automotive safety.
