How Are Euro NCAP Tests Done? What are the Scoring Criteria?

Safety is often a top priority for new vehicle buyers. This means that Euro NCAP’s testing resources are a vital source of information for anyone looking to choose the vehicle that will best protect drivers and passengers. Since 1997, this organization has disassembled thousands of new cars through extensive testing to find out how safe each automaker is. Thus, we can say that it has helped to raise the safety standard considerably across the industry.

Most countries allow the sale of cars with basic safety requirements. For this reason, Euro NCAP’s tests are among the most challenging. Since its inception, Euro NCAP has set the core safety standard for the overwhelming majority of new vehicles, increasing the difficulty level of testing every few years, making it harder for manufacturers to achieve the acclaimed five-star safety rating. So, how does Euro NCAP evaluate cars and what do the scores mean?

How Euro NCAP Tests Cars?

Euro NCAP is constantly improving its research efforts with the help of various governments, both in the UK and throughout the European Union. In general, Euro NCAP obtains cars to be tested in two ways. Either the car manufacturers donate the cars they produce to carry out these tests, which have become standard and cared for by the customers, before they are released, or they buy the cars from the manufacturers to perform the Euro NCAP test.
Each car is tested upon delivery and scored in four categories: Adult Passenger, Child Passenger, Pedestrian Safety and Safety Assistants. Scoring is from one to five stars.

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Adult Passenger

Six different tests are performed to determine the Adult Passenger safety score. Two of these are done with blows from the front. One of the blows taken from the front is made against a solid and solid barrier and the other is made by hitting a barrier that can stretch by 40%. In front-end tests, the speed of the vehicles is set to 64 km/h (40 mph). In side-by-side tests, it is done when the tested vehicle collides with another vehicle or hits a tree or street lamp. In side tests, a speed of 48 km/h (30 mph) is used in the collision of the other vehicle, and 32 km/h (20 mph) in the scenario of hitting a tree or street light. In the fifth test, it is tested how much the head and neck injuries of the adult passenger can be mitigated by a blow from the rear. In the final test, how effectively the vehicle’s Automatic Emergency Braking system works is tested. It tests how well an obstacle can be detected in front and how autonomously the emergency stop is performed.

Child Passenger

Poorly placed child seats can pose a great risk to children in the event of an accident. As a result, Euro NCAP tests the safety of a child seat in every car it tests. It is also scored based on how well it protects a child in the event of an accident and which attachment options are offered as standard or optional, similar to isofix attachments.

Pedestrian Safety

This safety test tests how forgiving the front end of the vehicle is in terms of pedestrian safety if the vehicle hits a person. Hard spots on the underbody that can cause injury are minus points, while features such as retractable hoods or exterior airbags are awarded plus points. While Automatic Emergency Braking systems can often prevent a collision with another car, the best systems can also detect pedestrian traffic and safely stop the car if someone gets on the road. Cars with this equipment will receive top marks in this category.

Security Assistant

Euro NCAP also tests and scores smart technologies that can prevent accidents in the first place. Equipment such as electronic stability control and seat belt reminders have long been a necessary part of the Safety Assist category. In addition to these, speed limit functions, lane departure warning systems and automatic emergency braking features are also included in the scoring. How many of these features are offered as standard or optional has a great impact on the scoring. If it is offered as a standard, points are given according to how well it fulfills its function.

What Should You Pay Attention To?

Euro NCAP is constantly striving to make new vehicles safer. As a result, their tests become more challenging almost every year. This means that a car that achieved a five-star rating in 2012 won’t get the same rating today, so it’s better to do your research on current vehicles.

These tests have international reliability. That’s why most manufacturers advertise high scores on these tests. If you are considering buying a brand new vehicle, it is recommended that you check whether the Euro NCAP test has been carried out and how many points it has received. If the brand-model you intend to buy does not have a current test, the previous scores will also give an idea. However, you should not forget that over the years, higher-level tests have been made and the test levels have become more difficult. If the Euro NCAP score of the brand-model you are considering is very low or has not been tested, you should question this situation. You should investigate why it was not included in the Euro NCAP test. Because some car manufacturers do not want some of their models to enter the Euro NCAP tests due to the possibility of getting low scores in the tests. That’s why you should keep in mind that a tool that is not submitted for testing can have a large security hole. It is your most natural right to want the vehicles you buy with very high budgets and many sacrifices to be safe vehicles.

Source: https://www.euroncap.com/en