Ford Transit van joins five-star ANCAP set

Ford's Transit Custom is among the very safest of vans available in the Australian market, according to the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (ANCAP).

Data from crash testing of the van by Euro NCAP underpins ANCAP's five-star safety rating for the Transit Custom.

"The Transit is a popular choice for large and small commercial operators such as tradespeople or couriers. Transit drivers will now have the knowledge their van offers the highest level of safety," ANCAP CEO James Goodwin was quoted as saying in a press release.

Van drivers have long been second-class citizens on our roads. At risk behind the wheel of forward-control vehicles with limited crash protection they are the workers who tend to come off second best in any sort of collision.

But fleet operators are beginning to recognise the danger for their employees, along with the financial cost to the company itself – and car companies are ready to step up and address the need for a safer working environment for van drivers.

"For commercial buyers – many of whom are now required by their employers to have a vehicle with a five-star ANCAP safety rating – these ratings open the door to a number of new vehicle choices," said Goodwin.

Ford is the latest car company to get on board with five-star safety ratings for its van models. Another is Mercedes-Benz. The German brand's Vito variants sold without the side-curtain airbags are rated at four stars by ANCAP, but side-curtain airbags will be made standard across the range from July, ensuring all Vito variants are rated five-star safe. Passenger-carrying variants of the Vito – the V-Class and Valente – are already rated at five stars by ANCAP.

"Mercedes-Benz has taken the responsible action to work with ANCAP to improve safety and address the four-star result. This is an encouraging outcome for safety and should be commended for working quickly to implement these important safety improvements," Goodwin said.

The Transit safety rating is the first official announcement from ANCAP since a statement last week revealing that the safety authority has secured $2.2 million of funding from the federal government to support its on-going operations over the next two years.