Reaching for the stars
How many has your car got? Three? Four? Everyone has heard of Euro NCAP ratings, but what do they actually mean? Colene McKessick takes a look at the system to see how your car is tested
Published:
The Saab 9-3 convertible was the first Euro NCAP five-star soft top
SAFETY has always been one of the main issues when it comes to choosing a car, and although we are bombarded with information on the latest technologies and safety designs, it can be difficult to know which will be most appropriate for our own lifestyles.
The Euro NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) was established in 1997 with the aim of providing motorists with a reliable and independent assessment of the safety features of new cars produced in Europe.
Previously, information was limited, and often the only safety assessment undertaken was a frontal impact using a full-width rigid block. This test was intended to control intrusion of the steering column and did not take into account impact to any other area of the car.
By law, all new car models must pass certain safety tests before they are sold. But whereas legislation provides a minimum statutory standard of safety for new cars, it is the aim of Euro NCAP to encourage manufacturers to exceed these minimum requirements.
There are five main categories that NCAP tests fall into.
Frontal impact
A car is crashed into a barrier at 40mph, carrying two test dummies which feed back information to a computer. This impact is intended to represent the most frequent type of road crash resulting in serious or fatal injury.
The barrier is intended to represent another car and, as such, is offset to replicate the other car attempting to swerve or get out of the way. In the car, steering wheel-mounted airbags are tested to ensure they give adequate support to the occupants without causing further injury. The amount of force transmitted to the occupant through their seatbelt is also tested.
Euro NCAP has encouraged the adoption of seatbelt pretensioners, load limiters and dual-stage airbags to help attenuate the forces transmitted to the occupant.
Another main injury factor, where pedals or objects in the footwell damage the occupant’s feet or legs, is tested, and Euro NCAP has encouraged intrusion reduction of the footwell and greater control of foot pedals displacement.
Side impact
The second most important crash test is to have a car impacted from the side using a barrier travelling at 30mph. Injury protection is assessed by a side-impact test dummy in the driver’s seat, testing how intrusion of the body of the car would impact the driver. Testing has seen an increase in the number of side airbags fitted, as well as an improvement in head protection.
Pole impact
Similar to side impact, pole impact is designed to imitate the car being impacted from the side. The car is rammed into a sturdy narrow pole and tests head protection.
Side airbags help to prevent injury and prevent the driver’s head from going through the door. Accident patterns vary from country to country within Europe, but about one-quarter of all serious-to-fatal injuries happen in side-impact collisions and these tests can ensure safety standards rise to make these kind of crashes survivable.
Child protection
Safety is often a priority for those buying a family car, looking for features which will protect their children in the event of a crash. In the frontal and side-impact barrier tests, dummies representing one-and-a-half and three-year-old children are placed in the rear of the car in the type of child restraint recommended by the car manufacturer.
Often, injuries occur when child restraints are not properly fitted or are not secure. Euro NCAP has encouraged improved designs and the fitment of ISOFIX mounts and child restraints which provide much more secure methods of attaching the child restraints to the car.
Pedestrian protection
NCAP testing does not just take passengers in the car into account, but those who may be injured on the outside should the car be involved in a crash.
A series of tests are carried out to replicate accidents involving child and adult pedestrians where impacts occur at 25mph. The impact injuries are then rated.
Safety features introduced include pedestrian-friendly bumpers which deform when they hit a pedestrian’s leg and removal of stiff structures in the construction of the bonnet – and a bonnet top area needs to be able to deflect.
Each car is then given a star rating out of five, as well as a score. It is important to note that the overall score is very important, and the star rating system is split into adult protection, child protection and pedestrian protection.
Often, manufacturers will boast of high NCAP ratings when they are referring only to the adult protection rating.
When NCAP was first launched, few cars achieved a five-star rating, with manufacturers claiming the rigorous tests completed on cars were too harsh.
Gradually, however, manufacturers adapted their systems, developing new safety methods and technology, and now it is not uncommon for a car to receive the coveted five-star award, a sign that safety has become a more important factor with manufacturers.
