The Ypsilon’s body became unstable, putting the driver at risk of serious injury. The trans-facia beam disconnected at the screen pillar and there was serious disruption in the footwell. The head contact on the airbag was unstable. In the side impact the door was forced in over the sill, damaging the seat and risking serious injury to the driver’s pelvis. The central rear seat belt was of a simple two-point lap type that could cause severe abdominal and spinal injuries. The child restraints had poor instruction labels and did not give good sideways support.
Front impact
The impact caused major disruption where the screen pillar met the trans-facia beam. The screen pillar split apart, tearing along a seam that appeared to be badly welded. The wheel moved backwards and upwards, hitting the driver’s chest hard enough to bend the rim and risk severe injury. There was also tearing and disruption in the footwell with sharp edges causing a hazard for the driver’s feet. The knee impact area damaged the dummy’s skin. There was evidence that the passenger’s head contacted the facia but not hard enough to increase the risk of serious injury.
Side impact
The impact forces damaged the seat base causing the dummy to record a high risk of injury to the lower torso. The door had overridden the sill virtually along its entire length. The driver’s head contacted the top of the door trim and his ribs contacted the seat side-wing and the door edge. His abdomen was loaded by the protruding armrest, which was crushed and broken.
Child occupant
The seat for the three-year-old used the adult belt as a restraint. This prevented his head from moving too far forward but gave little sideways support. The lack of a seat wing meant his head hit the other restraint in the side impact. Instruction labels on the seat were either not permanent and could be removed or were placed where they could not be seen when fitting the restraint.
Pedestrian
Most of the points awarded split evenly between the adult and child head protection areas.