Drive.com.au
THOUSANDS of Australians are buying new cars without basic seatbelt safety technology as the Federal Government continues to stop short of making the equipment mandatory.
Around 100,000 new vehicles sold in Australia last year were missing seatbelt reminders for every seating position or seatbelt pretensioners for some passengers.
Seatbelt pretensioners, which tighten a seatbelt and help correctly position an occupant during a collision, have been used in vehicles since the 1980s.
Yet they are still not required under Australian regulations for a new vehicle to be legally sold.
The issue recently came into focus with Chinese manufacturer GAC and its affordable Emzoom SUV.
An entry-level version was initially set to arrive without seatbelt pretensioners across all seating positions and without rear seatbelt reminders as the manufacturer sought to offer one of Australia’s cheapest SUVs.
Following criticism from customers, industry stakeholders and ANCAP, GAC reversed the decision.
Model Year 2027 vehicles arriving from November are expected to have the equipment, although an initial batch of MY26 vehicles arriving from September will not.
