Best First Car 2021: Safety

There’s nothing as important as safety for someone looking to buy their first new car.

You’ll want all the safety systems you can afford, and in this group of contenders lining up for carsales’ Best First Car 2021 there’s an impressive array of such features.

All seven models on test are fitted as standard with equipment that has long been considered essential and in some cases mandatory: anti-lock braking (ABS) and electronic stability control (ESC) systems and multiple airbags.

Each of them also have autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and forward collision warning (FCW) technology to help avoid or reduce the effects of one of the most common crashes: nose-to-tail collisions.

A reversing camera is also a basic requirement all cars here enjoy.

On the flipside, other advanced driver assist safety technology that’s growing in popularity, such as blind spot monitoring, driver impairment monitor, lane departure warning (LDW) and lane keep assist (LKA) are not a given in this segment.

Crash safety performance is also a way to distinguish which are the safer cars in a category, and although every model on test has achieved the maximum five-star rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), they’re not all created equal.

As well as percentage differences between the models within ANCAP’s main areas of assessment, the testing protocols across the board have been toughened in recent years (in 2017 and again in 2020, for example).

That means a car that achieved a five-star rating several years ago may not make that grade under the latest testing regime. So in broad terms, the more recent the safety rating, the better.

The Mitsubishi Mirage was tested in 2013, the Mazda2 and Skoda Fabia in 2015, and the Kia Rio, Suzuki Swift and Volkswagen Polo in 2017. The most recent rating belongs to the Toyota Yaris, which was tested in 2020.

All of these hatches have dual front, front side and side curtain airbags. In addition, the Toyota Yaris has two centre airbags, reducing the risk of ‘head clash’ between front occupants in a side impact.

Rear disc brakes can provide better stopping power than drum brakes, but only the Kia Rio and the Skoda Fabia have discs fitted at the rear.

Perhaps surprisingly given the rapid changes occurring in the car industry, driver assist safety features are not abundant across the board among the models on test.

While all have the safety net of low-speed AEB and forward collision warning, only the Suzuki Swift, Toyota Yaris and Volkswagen Polo have high-speed AEB.

Lane departure warning features in the Kia Rio, Mazda2, Mitsubishi Mirage, Suzuki Swift and Toyota Yaris, while the Kia, Mazda and Toyota also have lane keep assist.

A further refinement of these systems, lane following assist, is only found in the Kia and Toyota.

Blind spot monitoring is only fitted to the Mazda2 and the Suzuki Swift, but blind spot collision avoidance is not offered on any of the seven contenders.

All have a reversing camera, but none feature a 360-degree camera.

Rear parking sensors are fitted to only the Kia Rio, Mazda2 and Suzuki Swift; the others have none, relying instead on the rear-view camera.

Secondary collision mitigation automatically applies the brakes after a large impact is detected, reducing the chance of further impacts. Only the Skoda Fabia and the Volkswagen Polo have this feature.

LED headlights are fitted to only the Mazda2 and Mitsubishi Mirage; the rest have halogen headlights.

Tyre pressure monitoring is another system becoming increasingly common in new cars, yet among the models on test it’s only featured in the Skoda Fabia.

Here’s how our contenders for Best First Car 2021 rate side-by-side across key specifications:

Kia Rio Sport
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2017)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/Driver’s knee/Centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: No
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: No
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/Yes

Mazda2 G15 Pure
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2015)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/Driver’s knee/Centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/Yes

Mitsubishi Mirage LS
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2013)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/Driver’s knee/Centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: No
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: No
Rear cross traffic alert: No
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/No

Skoda Fabia 81TSI Run-Out Edition
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2015)
AEB: Yes
Airbags/Driver’s knee/Centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: No
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: No
Lane keep assist: No
Rear cross traffic alert: No
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/No

Suzuki Swift GL Navigator Plus
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2017)
AEB: Yes (including high-speed operation)
Airbags/Driver’s knee/Centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: Yes
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: No
Rear cross traffic alert: Yes
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/Yes

Toyota Yaris Ascent Sport
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2020)
AEB: Yes (including high-speed operation)
Airbags/Driver’s knee/Centre front: 8/No/Yes
Blind spot monitoring: No
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: Yes
Lane keep assist: Yes
Rear cross traffic alert: No
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/No

Volkswagen Polo 70TSI Trendline
ANCAP safety rating (year): Five-star (2017)
AEB: Yes (including high-speed operation)
Airbags/Driver’s knee/Centre front: 6/No/No
Blind spot monitoring: No
Forward collision warning: Yes
Lane departure warning: No
Lane keep assist: No
Rear cross traffic alert: No
Rear/360-degree camera: Yes/No
Parking sensors front/rear: No/No