The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Stringent new tests will make new cars safer than ever
STRINGENT new tests will make cars safer than they have ever been when introduced later this year.
The ‘game-changing’ upgrades to the European new car assessment programme (Euro NCAP) - described as the most comprehensive in a decade - could have an impact on the safety ratings and price of cars sold here.
Automakers place heavy emphasis on vehicles they sell with five-star Euro NCAP ratings, for example. It helps to instil consumer confidence.
One new test looks particularly difficult: points will be deducted from large SUV ratings if their structures are found to be too “stiff ” in crashes with smaller, more vulnerable, cars.
Meeting new autonomous emergency braking standards to prevent reversing accidents will also pose a challenge.
Other major upgrades of the testing procedure will include new side-impact tests and closer assessment of driver monitoring systems. A new mid-sized ‘Thor’ dummy, claimed to more closely represent the body and capable of recording abdominal injuries, will be used to more comprehensively gauge the impact of crashes. Euro NCAP says the new test standard in that area will be especially tough to meet due to the use of more sophisticated dummies.
An expert analysis of side-impact accidents points out: “In these impact scenarios, occupants can be knocked around dramatically - not only into one another but also into the vehicle structures.”
It will also be the first time there will be two moving elements to the head-on collision - the test vehicle and a barrier.
Cars launched this year will undergo the new tests later in 2020 to address “long-standing needs in occupant protection, to improve post-crash protection and to promote the latest advanced driver assistance technology”.
Meeting the new criteria will come as a big challenge, and at an extra cost, at a time of crisis in the automotive sector due to the pandemic. There will be rewards for car manufacturers which make safety information easily available to first responders in the event of an accident.