The ultimate guide to Euro NCAP crash tests

Impact readings are taken from highly complex dummies located in the driver and passenger seat

Andy Goodwin looks at what the tests involve and what the results mean.

The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) was founded in 1997 to test and publish reports on the safety of all new cars and award them with an easy to interpret safety rating.

The Euro NCAP tests focus on the specific aspects of vehicle safety:

Frontal impact

In this test the car impacts an offset deformable barrier at exactly 40mph. Impact readings are then taken from highly complex dummies located in the driver and passenger seat.

This test represents the most common collision with one car striking another head on with only part of the car’s frontal area.

Side impact

In the second test a deformable barrier representing the front of a car strikes the side of the car being evaluated at a speed of 30mph.

A special side impact test dummy records the forces which would be experienced by occupants. Euro NCAP claims to have seen large improvements in side impact performance since introducing the test, largely helped by the widespread introduction of side airbags.

Pole impact

According to Euro NCAP a quarter of all serious-to-fatal injuries occur in side impact collisions. The car being tested travels sideways at 18mph into an upright static post, striking the car alongside the driver’s body.

This test was designed to encourage manufacturers to fit head protection devices such as side impact airbags which provide a padding effect against intrusions and prevent the occupants head from passing through the window.

Child protection

Crash test dummies don’t just come in one size – dummies representing 18 month and three year old children are placed in the rear of a car in a child seat suitable for the vehicle.

Euro NCAP has encouraged carmakers to improve the crash protection afforded to children, improving designs and making ISOFIX mountings more common. ISOFIX anchor points are a very secure way of attaching the child restraint into the car.

Pedestrian protection

The latest addition to Euro NCAP testing aims to make cars less injuring in the event of striking a pedestrian. Vehicles are tested to replicate collisions with a standing adult and child at 25mph.

Cars can be made more pedestrian safe with fitment of bumpers which deform on impact and spread forces over a larger area. The bonnet area needs to be able to deform and deflect with no stiff structures immediately below, as these would cause excess injury.

The dummies

Crash test dummies are crucial to Euro NCAP tests – fitted with a huge array of sensors to record the impact forces we would experience in a crash. The ‘adults’ are the exact size of the average fully-grown male or female. There are also baby and toddler sized dummies.

The star ratings

The results are compiled and converted into an easy to understand format.

Cars are awarded from zero to five stars for adult occupant safety, zero to four stars for child occupant safety and zero to four stars for pedestrian safety.

Cars at the top of the Euro NCAP table

Small cars can be incredibly safe – as proved by the new Mazda 2 which recently scored five out of five stars for adult protection. Other five star superminis include the BMW Mini, Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 207, Fiat Grande Punto and Renault Clio.

Hatchbacks with five stars include the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, Kia Cee’d, Vauxhall Astra, Nissan Qashqai, BMW 1-series and Citroen C4.

Family cars with five stars include the BMW 3-Series, Ford Mondeo (2007-), Peugeot 407, Citroen C5, Renault Laguna, Volkswagen Passat, Mercedes C-Class, Lexus IS and Volvo S40 and V70.

Five star MPVs include the Volkswagen Touran, Skoda Roomster, Toyota Verso, Renault Scenic, Vauxhall Zafira, Mazda 5 and Citroen C4 Picasso.