Improvements to car safety are a matter of life and death
Thousands of lives saved since shocking crash tests shook motor industry among car-buyers. The best performers — the Fiesta and Polo — managed only three points, with Euro NCAP warning that even these failed to protect sufficiently, causing problems for occupants’ legs and feet in the case of the Fiesta, and torso in the Polo. The Punto, Micra, Corsa and Clio scraped two points, with engineers reporting ‘unstable’ passenger compartments, steering wheels being forced back into the cabin and ‘weak’ chest protection. Most shocking was the Rover 100. Experts gave it only one star because the steering wheel was rammed right into the cabin, the passenger safety cell collapsed and the driver’s door split apart. Protection for pedestrians was alarming, too: not one car merited more than two points.
It was a turning point for the motor industry. Big car firms, which initially claimed the tests were so tough that no vehicle could achieve four points, now feared that consumers would lose faith in their products and quickly began to co-operate with Euro NCAP. Volvo’s S40 became the first four-star car for occupant protection just five months later and, as sales plummeted, Rover killed off the Rover 100 in 1998.
Figures from Thatcham Research — which conducts Euro NCAP tests in the UK — show that 15,000 lives are saved annually in the UK through better body structures and crumple zones and a range of high-tech driver aids. Car occupant deaths and injuries have fallen 63 per cent since the programme began. Today, cars are scored out of five, and Euro NCAP provides a guide for consumers (euroncap.com/en).
Thatcham says exciting advances are to come, including technology which prevents crashes at urban junctions. Euro NCAP will also start testing technology to detect pedestrians at night and ‘nudge’ cars back into lane if they veer on to a collision course, followed, eventually, by cars capable of steering around hazards in the road ahead.
Crucially for London, Euro NCAP and Thatcham will start testing technology to avoid collisions with cyclists next year. In the meantime, Thatcham is urging consumers to buy five-star cars fitted with Autonomous Emergency Braking, which alerts drivers to an imminent crash and takes over braking if the driver doesn’t react in time.
To see just how far safety has come in 20 years, watch what happens when Thatcham crash-test a Rover 100 and modern Honda Jazz. The results are shocking — and re assuring: bit.ly/2kvMOF3
Figures show that 15,000 lives are saved annually in the UK through better body structures and driver aids
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