The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave its lowest rating of poor in side-impact protection to four vehicles: a version of the 2007 Toyota Yaris without side airbags and Toyota’s 2006 Scion xB; and 2007 models of the Hyundai Accent and the Kia Rio, which share similar underpinnings.

Toyota Yaris

Wonder if the high fatality rate of accidents in Malaysia is due to the lack of proper research and safety measures of our locally produced cars which dominate the roads? If local car companies , Proton and Perodua, were to compete in the international markets, wouldn’t this be an essential and important step to take? Are lives cheaper in South Asian countries since safety measures are neglected or relegated to the sidelines? Perhaps the Prime Minister who bemoaned the rate of accident deaths in Malaysia every festive season would do well to look into the state of safety measures of our local cars?

While international car brands pride themselves on superior safety features, environmentally-friendly designs, and world-class after-sale service, local car manufacturers/assemblers are contented with mass-producing cars that satisfy the undiscriminating public in Malaysia. How can Malaysians stand eye to eye with international car makers if Malaysians do not take strides to improve own products in terms of quality? While the’chili biters’ would raise voices and point to the increasingly sophisticated types of local cars in the market as well as partnerships with major carmakers globally, the truth is the rate of improvement leaves much to be desired and the ‘empty tin’ still clangs loudly without much utility. Major loss of profit and subsequent government bailout are inevitable, if this was not checked, even fifty years from now.