Hamburg  - Some of the latest cars are a revolution away from their predecessor models with solid construction and an array of electronic safety systems gearing into action to protect the occupants a split second before a crash.

In the past a big luxury car or a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) also meant more safety but today even small cars such as the new Fiat 500 are achieving top marks in crash tests with solid safety cell

construction and energy-absorbing crumple zones to the front and rear.

The enormous technical progress on safety, in addition to improved road signals and other measures at accident hotspots, has for instance reduced the number of road deaths in Germany from more than 20,000 per year in 1970 to a current level of about 4,000 although traffic density has tripled in the same period.

Road safety expert Professor Ulrich Seiffert from the German University of Braunschweig however points out that there are huge disparities between modern cars in terms of safety - irrespective of their size.

"A small car can be just as safe as one from the premium or SUV segment," he argues in an article published in the German automobile association magazine ADAC.

So-called passive safety systems like airbags, seatbelts, passenger safety cells and energy absorbing crumple zones are standard in modern cars but the way the car is constructed could be a choice between life and death in an accident.

Motorists on the lookout for a new car are therefore advised to check the safety ratings of the car before buying such as the European Road Safety Performance Index on the Internet at www. euroncap. com.

Many new cars are fitted with active safety systems including electronic sensors called pre-Crash and pre-Safe. They react a split second before a crash, activating safety systems and reducing the effects of a collision.

The first generation active safety system was introduced in the Mercedes S-Class in 2002 with the seats automatically positioning themselves in a crash-optimised angle to the airbags. The side windows and sunroof close automatically to prevent exterior objects from entering the car. Pre-Safe systems are meanwhile offered by other car makers such as BMW and Toyota.

The Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) which becomes compulsory for all new cars in the European Union from the year 2011 prevents skidding with sensors automatically countering under- and oversteer.

Lexus offers a system which not only monitors traffic ahead but also keeps a watch to the rear, taking measures to reduce the effects of a rear-end collision. Braking is also becoming more sophisticated, linked to an array of sensors that trigger a braking procedure if the driver does not react to danger ahead. (dpa)