On a population basis, occupants of older vehicles manufactured in 2001 or earlier were killed at four times the rate in a car crash than those in vehicles made between 2012 and 2017. The worst vehicles for a fatal crash were those built from 1998 to 2002, which accounted for one in four passenger vehicle and SUV fatalities in 2016. Classic cars were not a problem, ANCAP found. Vehicles without modern safety features are also lasting longer than those in the past, says ANCAP, reducing the incentive for drivers to buy a newer vehicle. Libby Tulip of Glebe with her very reliable white 1996 Corolla. Credit:Ryan Stuart That's true for Libby Tulip of Glebe. She says she wouldn't give up her white 1996 Corolla because it is so reliable and inexpensive to run. It may not have air bags but it does have a terrific cassette player, she said.

"It is so reliable three mechanics have offered to buy it from me," she said. "I keep asking them if it is worth keeping it. Last year I had to get new windscreen wipers to get it registered but that was it." Her father had "flogged it" up and down the Blue Mountains for 10 years before giving it to her. Ms Tulip doesn't worry about the vehicle's safety because she has "never had a crash", and had a good driving record. "This one is so reliable and that's all I want from a car," she said. ANCAP's chief executive James Goodwin called for a "national conversation" about reducing the average fleet age. Very often older cars were driven by people who were more likely to crash, including older and younger drivers, who were often more vulnerable to impact.

Old versus new: ANCAP crashed a 1998 Toyota Corolla with its 2015 cousin. Credit:ANCAP supplied "It is quite clear that once you get into something that is 15 years old, which you have been driving every day, it is often past the point it is acceptable from a safety point of view," he said. "It isn't likely to have electronic stability control, it may only have one airbag and many 15 year old vehicles may not have any airbags at all. If it doesn't have those, it should not be driven any more." Independent economic analysis commissioned by ANCAP found that, during 2015 alone, the increased penetration of electronic stability control (ESC) and head-protecting side airbags resulted in a reduction of seven deaths and 196 serious injuries, saving the economy about $105 million.

In its submission to the federal government's inquiry into road trauma, ANCAP calls for the introduction of a range of policies to reduce the age of vehicles, including incentives to encourage buyers, especially those on low incomes, to trade up or trash unsafe vehicles. The inquiry was announced last year by former federal roads minister Darren Chester, who described road trauma as a "public health crisis in our nation". In February Mr Chester, now federal Minister for Veterans' Affairs, called on the banking and insurance sectors to "make sure they're developing products or incentives for motorists to purchase the safest car they can afford for themselves and their children". "It is a sad fact that, for most of us, the worst car we will ever drive will be our first car, and we're at higher risk of having a crash in those first few years of driving," Mr Chester said in Parliament last month. Mr Goodwin said some vehicles shouldn't be sold or even traded in: "If you don't want your son or daughter in that car, you shouldn't want someone else's sons and daughters in it."

If parents of young drivers had more than one car in the garage, they should be giving the safest and newest vehicle to the younger driver. "Too often, people say the P-plater should drive the bomb. Perhaps mum and dad shouldn't be driving the best car," Mr Goodwin said. "We need to be changing our thinking – it is the simplest solution to reducing fatalities," he said, given that young drivers are over-represented in crash statistics. Research from the Australian Automobile Association found reducing the average age of the light vehicle fleet by a year would save more than 1300 lives over 20 years. That's about the same number of people who were killed on Australian roads in 2016 and a bit more than the 1225 who died in 2017.

Mr Goodwin recommended the government and industry investigate incentives to encourage users to upgrade to newer vehicles with higher safety ratings. For example, ANCAP's submission recommends: the abolition of tariffs on some new cars which could cut their cost by $1000

the reduction of insurance premiums on new cars

the introduction of financial incentives to purchase a new car,

the consideration of more flexible financing that could help a younger buyer, or someone without savings, buy a safer vehicle. ANCAP says there has been a major shift in the past five years in the percentage of vehicles that hold a five-star rating, with 91 per cent of light vehicles rated five stars in 2017 compared with 76 per cent in 2013. These new safety features include pedestrian-friendly vehicle front structures, improved occupant protection, side curtain airbags and electronic stability controls.