The Safe Vehicles Programme aims to raise awareness of vehicle safety ratings and significantly improve the safety performance of New Zealand’s light vehicle fleet.
Safety ratings are the best indication of how well your vehicle will protect you and others on our roads. Safety ratings range from 1 to 5-stars, the safest vehicles have 5-star safety ratings while less safe vehicles have a 1-star rating.
The ratings factor in driver/occupant protection as well as protection for people outside the vehicle in a crash, plus an assessment of the crash avoidance features a vehicle has to help prevent crashes or reduce their severity.
Visit Rightcar to check the safety ratings of vehicles you own, use or are interested in – especially because safety ratings change over time.
Rightcar website(external link)
If you’re looking to buy a vehicle (or helping someone else with a purchase), we encourage you to choose the safest, cleanest, most efficient vehicle in your price range. There are vehicles with high safety ratings available in most vehicle categories and price brackets.
In New Zealand, a vehicle’s safety rating comes from one of three sources:
For more information on which safety rating applies to your vehicle, see the safety ratings lifecycle:
Safety ratings lifecycle(external link)
If your vehicle is a used import, ANCAP ratings don’t apply. Find out which ratings apply to used imports:
Used import safety ratings(external link)
Safety ratings are reviewed annually. Visit the Rightcar website to check your safety rating and keep up to date with annual changes:
Rightcar website(external link)
If you import and sell vehicles, the Rightcar website has vehicle safety rating resources:
Access dealer resources for vehicle safety ratings(external link)
For more information on vehicle safety ratings, email safevehicles@nzta.govt.nz
