Suzuki Swift takes Safety Seriously

The new Maruti Suzuki SWIFT subcompact hatch launches today with side and curtain airbags, and three-point safety belts in all seats, both standard across the range. This bumps up its rating a notch: all variants now earn 'Recommended'. As before, the Swift continues to offer electronic stability control and i-Size compatible rear seats across the range but misses out on some active safety technologies like a tyre pressure monitor or any form of blind spot information.

SUBCOMPACT CAR RATINGS (updated)

What is most concerning about the NEW SWIFT is its 'unintelligent' rear belt reminder system, whose audio signal activates if the rear safety belts are unfastened at the start of a journey even if there are no rear occupants.[source]. Anecdotal evidence suggests that such overly optimistic systems (complete but unsound) could encourage passengers to use illegal 'tongues' to defeat the system or keep the safety belts fastened and sit over them, both of which make the rear seatbelts less accessible than they would be, had the system been absent.

Gobar NCRAP presently rewards all kinds of rear seatbelt reminder systems, but is trying to understand how effective different systems are in practice. If you drive a car that has a rear seatbelt reminder (light/icon/sound), please consider sparing a minute to help Gobar NCRAP ratings improve:

REAR SEATBELT REMINDER FORM

Questions? Reach out to @GobarNCRAP on Twitter.