Is the life of an African citizen really worth less than the life of someone living in a more affluent region such as Europe?
When it comes to vehicle safety standards, it would certainly have appeared that way in the past, and may still be relevant, but there are many layers to this complex topic.
Vehicle safety advocate and crash testing authority Global NCAP hit the headlines in 2020 after staging a head-on crash test between a South African-built Nissan NP300 bakkie and a European-built Navara model. The latter literally obliterated the former, which had previously received a zero-star safety rating by the organisation.
This is a very dramatic car-to-car crash test which uniquely illustrates the double standard in vehicle safety performance between models sold in Europe and those sold in Africa, Global NCAP President David Ward said of the Hardbody, whose driver would likely have died in a real-life collision of that nature.
The NP300 was an older design that enjoyed an extended production life in SA due to its affordability and it has since been replaced by the locally-made Navara range which is albeit more expensive due to its modernised engineering.
