Euro NCAP is ten years old. At a major conference in Brussels on November 29th, EU Transport Commissioner, Jacques Barrot, joined Euro NCAP Chairman Claes Tingvall, former Chairman Max Mosley, President of the FIA, and the UK’s Road Safety Minister, Dr Stephen Ladyman MP, to mark the first decade of the pioneering independent crash test programme.
The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) revolutionised in-car safety across Europe. Through rigorous testing procedures and exposure of the vehicles you can least expect to survive a crash in; the Euro NCAP programme has prompted car manufacturers to put safety at the forefront of vehicle design.
Initially opposed to NCAP, many car manufacturers are now keen to boast the star ratings of their vehicles. They have come to recognise the marketing potential of a four or much coveted five-star rating.
Improvements in the protection of some car models since Euro NCAP’s inception in 1995 are clear. The Fiat Punto and Renault Clio, for example, both scored two stars in occupant protection in 1997. When tested this year, both vehicles demonstrated a marked improvement, each achieving the maximum five-star rating. Vehicle safety has been enhanced by both structural improvements and by the addition of enhanced occupant restraint systems.
Euro NCAP crash tests highlight the very different standards of protection from one vehicle to another. The programme sets benchmarks and raises the bar for safety standards. UK Road Safety Minister, Dr Stephen Ladyman, said:
“When the UK Government started its NCAP programme a decade ago, it was almost impossible to assess the competitive safety of passenger cars. But in collaboration with the FIA and others, Euro NCAP has pioneered a ratings system that is both a benchmark for manufacturers and a quality assurance for the consumer. Over the last 10 years, the number of states achieving 10 stars has vastly increased, and people looking for crash protection now have a real choice in the new market.”
The first five-star rating for occupant protection was achieved by the Renault Laguna in 2001. The Renault Modus became the first supermini to achieve the maximum star rating, in 2004. This represented quite an achievement for a category of car for which a five-star rating was believed to be unobtainable.
Euro NCAP has also had a huge influence on child occupant protection. Child protection ratings have progressed so far as to warrant a separate test category. By highlighting the protection a vehicle offers its infant occupants, Euro NCAP encourages manufacturers to take responsibility for the protection of children and to provide suitable facilities for the fitment of child restraints.
Euro NCAP has also established protocols for secondary safety. By demonstrating that wearing a seat belt considerably reduces the likelihood of sustaining a serious or fatal injury in a crash, Euro NCAP has encouraged the fitment of intelligent seat belt reminders in new vehicles as standard. The programme has also turned its attentions to active safety and crash prevention, recently recommending Electronic Stability Control (ESC).
As well as occupant protection, Euro NCAP also assesses the pedestrian protection offered by new cars. Here, improvements have been slow to emerge. It took until September 2003 for the first three-star rating to be achieved. Only in November 2005 was the first four-star rating, the maximum that can be achieved for pedestrian protection, awarded to the Citroën C6.
Euro NCAP has produced a brochure ‘Creating a Market for Safety’ to mark its 10th anniversary.
Download the brochure here >
This film, made by Richard Stanley Productions on behalf of Euro NCAP and the FIA Foundation, examines the success of Euro NCAP and interviews some of the key participants in the development of the programme.
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