ENCAP, the European body that performs the crash tests on new cars gave more 5 star results this month with the Audi A6, the BMW X3, the new Chevrolet Aveo and Chevrolet Orlando, the Citroën DS5, the Hyundai i40, the Opel Ampera, the VW Golf Cabriolet and the VW Jetta all performing well.
Only the European Kia Picanto received an overall rating of 4 stars, a result poorer than many of its city-car competitors. Surprisingly, the new Picanto is not fitted with Electronic Stability Control as standard across the model range. Michiel van Ratingen, Euro NCAP secretary general, said, “Proven safety benefits of ESC resulted in new legislation requiring the technology to be fitted as standard on all new models in Europe as of next year. In 2011, consumers should expect this critical safety equipment to be part of any offering regardless of car size or price.”
Crash testing.
Euro NCAP continues to test plug-in and electric vehicles and announced that the Opel/Vauxhall Ampera (Chevrolet Volt in the US) achieved an overall rating of five stars.
Some of the tested vehicles obtained high scores for child occupant protection. The Hyundai i40 and both VW Jetta and Golf Cabriolet scored 86 percent. Michiel van Ratingen says, “We consider child protection as a very important part of the overall star rating and have plans to step up our requirements even more in the coming years.”
While many cars released continue to impress in the areas of adult and child occupant protection, pedestrian protection scores are generally still lagging behind. The Opel Ampera, Audi A6 and Citroën DS5 only just meet Euro NCAP’s 2011 pedestrian requirements for a 5 star rating but none of the cars in this release would meet the more stringent 5 star requirement of 60 percent coming into effect in 2012. A few car makers have already stepped up, showing much higher pedestrian scores such as the recently tested Ford Focus. Euro NCAP hopes that others will follow suit soon.
Euro NCAP is encouraged to see important advanced safety systems being offered to consumers on more and more models. The 5 star new medium-sized SUV BMW X3 comes with the awarded Advanced eCall, a system that is able to automatically notify emergency services providing critical details of the crash event.
Another example is the Mazda Rear Vehicle Monitoring System available on the Mazda 3 tested in 2009. Euro NCAP reviewed the safety benefits of this technology that detects and warns the driver of an approaching vehicle and helps to avoid common lane change related crashes involving two or more vehicles.
