While few of us can proudly boast of an unblemished driving record during our entire motoring lives, fewer are able to boast of an accident-free record. Most accidents are minor, resulting in scratched paintwork, or at worst a couple of dented panels. The inevitable will happen however, with lives lost as a result of a horrific accident.
Modern passenger vehicles are increasingly powerful with the maximum speeds increasing with each generation of vehicles that are being marketed. This situation has regulating authorities worried due to the fact that no matter what regulations are in place, death tolls from road accidents will keep on increasing.
From the point of car manufacturers, there is a need to ensure that drivers and passengers are protected in the event of a major accident.
Euro NCAP
The Euro NCAP or the European New Car Assessment Programme was established in 1997. It is now backed by five European governments that provide motoring consumers with a realistic and independent assessment of the safety performance of some of the most popular cars sold in Europe. Euro NCAP has rapidly become a medium for encouraging significant safety improvements to new car design.
Safety in design
Safety sells cars in modern times, and for the majority of car purchasers, it should represent the key element in their purchasing decision.
By law, all new car models must pass certain safety tests before they are sold. But legislation provides a minimum statutory standard of safety for new cars. It is therefore the aim of Euro NCAP to encourage manufacturers to exceed these minimum requirements. It must be mentioned at this stage that Euro NCAP is not the only body involved in business of safety ratings for new vehicles.
Various other bodies such as the German TUV, MIRA in the United Kingdom and the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) in the United States also carry out safety tests on road-going passenger vehicles.
However, the following explains in brief how NCAP's different crash tests are performed and how the results are interpreted:
 | Front impact: The front impact test was developed by the European Enhanced Vehicle Safety Committee as a basis for legislation, but impact speed has been increased by 9km/h in tests carried out by NCAP. Its purpose is to assess the amount of protection given to front occupants of the vehicle in the event of a head-on collision. Frontal test collisions take place at 64km/h against a rigid barrier that overlaps at least 40% of the frontal width of the vehicle. | |
| Side impact: Similar to the front impact, side impact tests are used to access the amount of protection given to front passengers. Side impact tests use a trolley with a deformable front that is towed into the driver's side of the car to simulate a side-on crash. Impact occurs at 30km/h. | |
| Pedestrian impact tests: These are a series of tests that are carried out to duplicate accidents that involve child and adult pedestrians where impact occurs at 40km/h. Numerous impact sites at the front of the vehicle are then assessed as being good, fair or of poor in design that could potentially result in serious injury or death, in the event of an accident. | |
| Pole test: Accident patterns vary from country to country, but approximately 25% of all serious-to-fatal accidents result from side impact collisions (e.g. when one vehicle runs into the side of another). However in Germany, over half of such accidents occur when a vehicle impacts a pole or a tree, and in some cases, wrap around the object. To encourage vehicle manufacturers to fit head protection devices, a pole or head protection test has been added to the Euro NCAP protocols. Side impact airbags help to make this kind of crash survivable, which can be very effective in other types of side impact accidents such as being hit by another vehicle where the bonnet enters the window at head height. In new tests, the car tested is propelled sideways at 29km/h into a rigid pole of 254mm diameter. The pole is relatively narrow, so there is major penetration into the side of the car. |
Vehicle ratings
Crash test dummies are fitted with a myriad of sensors are used to simulate the presence of human passengers in test vehicles during tests. The sensors give readings on the direction and amplitude forces that are likely to be experienced by various parts of the passengers' bodies in the event of an accident.
As an example, NCAP gives the following general safety assessment for a popular European manufactured MPV that performed brilliantly in its safety tests:
"The brand X model performed exceptionally in gaining a five-star safety rating. Its body proved extremely stable and protected its occupants, gaining a maximum score for its performance in the side impact. It also safeguards children, its restraints meeting most of the Euro NCAP performance limits. Only the neck loading for the younger child was a little high. But the protection it gives to pedestrians is average."
The above tests therefore recommends that additional restraints be used for younger children who are more likely to suffer neck injuries in the event of a major accident. On the other hand, a vehicle that performs poorly in safety tests may read as follows:
"The brand Y model was awarded only one star for protection in frontal and side impact tests. In the frontal impact test, the head and loadings on both knees failed to meet the criteria. Under side impact crash test conditions, loadings to the chest and abdomen were greater than those that are to be permitted by the current requirements. In frontal impact, the major problems related to excessive intrusion and instability of the passenger compartment. In side impact, reduced loading of the chest and abdomen is needed, while at the same time controlling the loading on the pelvis."
Needless to say, vehicle Y above is best avoided in the interest of passenger safety, since the NCAP conclusion is that passenger safety is jeopardised by poor vehicle design.
Therefore, it is always good to know about the kind of car that you are purchasing, not only for your sake, but the sake of your passengers and even pedestrians who might be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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