Five-star ANCAP ratings remain an important requirement for many Australian fleets, but achieving those ratings increasingly requires active safety systems that can generate alerts some drivers find frustrating.
Kia Australia says it is trying to balance the two requirements by pursuing high safety ratings while making driver assistance systems easier for vehicle operators to manage.
Speaking with Fleet News Group, Roland Rivero, General Manager, Product Planning & Training at Kia Australia at the time of the interview, said fleet safety policies were an important influence on Kia’s Australian product planning.
Five stars remain important to fleets
Many government and corporate fleets use ANCAP ratings as part of their vehicle procurement policies, sometimes mandating five stars before a passenger vehicle can be considered.
Rivero said Kia was conscious of those requirements.
“We pride ourselves in in targeting or in aiming for the maximum five star ANCAP Safety rating across all our core volume EV products,” he said.
Kia has also pursued the equivalent outcome for its new electric commercial van, with Rivero pointing to the PV5 achieving the maximum Platinum rating under ANCAP’s commercial van assessment.
“Fleet safety policies ultimately do dictate that we we target that five star standard, and and from Kia Australia we’re definitely fully committed to fulfilling those those strict corporate governance and safety workplace safety requirements,” he said.
Safety ratings have changed
The challenge for vehicle manufacturers is that earning a strong safety rating is no longer predominantly about protecting occupants once a collision occurs.
Increasing importance is being placed on preventing the collision.
“Back in the days it was it was all about crash performance, but but these days it’s more so about about preventing the accident from happening in the first place,” Rivero said.
That places greater emphasis on advanced driver assistance systems including autonomous emergency braking and lane support technologies.
It also creates the increasingly familiar situation where vehicles provide audible warnings when they detect a potential safety issue.
What about all the alerts?
The problem for manufacturers is ensuring the safety technology does not become so intrusive that drivers become frustrated by it.
Rivero acknowledged the issue and said Kia had been working with its research and development teams on what he described as the vehicle’s “bings and bongs”.
“We’ve worked closely with R&D on the bings and bongs, and as much as possible, we’ve made it as easy as possible for customers to should they so desire to be able to customise and switch off some of the loud bings and bongs,” he said.
Drivers can also adjust the volume of some warnings.
However, Rivero explained that certain safety systems need to be active when the vehicle starts to satisfy safety assessment protocols.
“But to to get to that five star rating as part of the protocol, you’ve got to default to have them having these respective lane keep assist features and AEB features on,” he said.
Making safety systems easier to manage
Kia’s response has been to make frequently used controls accessible without forcing drivers through multiple touchscreen menus.
Rivero pointed to long presses of physical controls as one example.
“Even the long press of the mute button will silence it which can be done without taking your eyes off the road, and and even the the the muting of of lane keep assist with a long press also of the respective lane follow assist button,” he said.
The issue is becoming increasingly relevant to Fleet Managers.
Selecting a vehicle with the required ANCAP rating may satisfy procurement policy, but fleets also need employees to understand and accept the systems fitted to those vehicles.
As active safety requirements expand, driver familiarisation and vehicle usability are likely to become an increasingly important part of introducing new vehicles into a fleet.
