All-New D-Max: The Safest One Yet
Redefining the standards for safety, the All-New Isuzu D-Max is the first vehicle to be tested in Australasia against the new stringent 2020 ANCAP testing and rating criteria—achieving a maximum 5 star safety rating across the entire Isuzu D-Max range.
In the official ANCAP statement announcing the maximum 5 star safety rating result, ANCAP commended Isuzu for democratising safety across the entire range, stating that “all variants in the D-Max range provide the same high level safety features, technologies and performance as standard.”
“The D-MAX rating has been highly anticipated by fleet and private buyers, and re-establishes the safety benchmark for the competitive ute segment which has traditionally tended to lag that of passenger cars and SUVs,” said ANCAP Director of Communications and Advocacy, Rhianne Robson.
For 2020, ANCAP overhauled their testing regime, to better reflect common crash scenarios and the types of vehicles on the roads. The new Isuzu D-Max was the first vehicle tested by ANCAP in Australasia, scoring top marks in the majority of disciplines, to earn the maximum 5 star ANCAP safety rating, reinforcing the expectation that the Isuzu D-Max was tipped to be one of the safest vehicles on New Zealand roads.
With double cab utes proving popular amongst families with young children, all D-Max Double Cab models are fitted with capacity to accommodate two ISOFix child seats, and recorded a score of 44 out of 49 points or 89% for Child Occupant Protection, which is among one of the highest scores awarded by ANCAP.
The All-New Isuzu D-Max is also the first ute and one of a small handful of vehicles to introduce an additional centre airbag across the entire range; including the entry-level Single Cab Chassis LX. Comprising of dual front, dual side, dual full-length curtain, a front knee and a centre (far-side) airbag, these supplementary restraint systems (SRS) have been designed to offer maximum impact protection for occupants within the D-Max. Embedded within the inner-side of the driver’s seat is a new centre airbag, designed as a countermeasure during side-impacts to protect both front occupants from colliding with each other and from external intrusion into the cabin during a severe side impact.
Far-side impact performance equates to 10.5% of the Adult Occupant Protection component of the ANCAP score, with the All-New Isuzu D-Max scoring a solid 3.5 out of 4 points in this area. With 8 airbags within the cabin, including a new far-side (centre) airbag, the Isuzu D-Max recorded a score of 83% for Adult Occupant Protection.
Encompassing a comprehensive suite of driver assistance technologies, Isuzu’s Intelligent Driver Assistance System (IDAS) utilises radar sensors and an advanced 3D stereo binocular camera system that precisely detects and measures distance, size, velocity and depth of vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and other potential obstacles around the D-Max. Proving to be more accurate and effective than a monocular camera and radar system, Isuzu’s IDAS enables advanced active safety systems such as Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) with Turn Assist, Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR), Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM), Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA), Lane Keep Assist (LKA), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK) and many more potentially life-saving features.
With a focus on occupant and the safety of other road users, Isuzu is among the first to introduce AEB with Turn Assist, with the system able to autonomously brake at intersections to avoid driving into the path of an oncoming vehicle. With this new active safety technology standardised across every D-Max, the Isuzu D-Max recorded a score of 81% for Safety Assist.
From the beginning, the Isuzu engineering and design team have been working in co-operation with ANCAP to ensure the All-New Isuzu D-Max is up to the current and future safety standards.
