Euro NCAP Announce Euro NCAP Advanced
by Patricia Montgomery, LincsMag Writer.
Date: 09 October 2010
This month (October 2010), at the eSafety Challenge, Euro NCAP is announcing Euro NCAP Advanced, a reward system for new and emerging safety technologies.
Recent technological advancements have considerably broadened the automotive safety landscape. Features like Lane Departure Warning, Blind Spot Monitoring, Attention Assist, Autonomous Braking and Emergency Call are increasingly offered as options by car makers on their newest models. However, with so many technologies entering the market, and with no independent advice on the safety benefit they offer, many consumers are left feeling confused.
Euro NCAP Advanced aims to provide car buyers with clear guidance about the safety benefits which these new technologies offer them and their families. The new reward system, complementing Euro NCAP’s existing star rating scheme, will recognize and reward manufacturers who promote those new safety technologies which have a scientifically proven safety benefit.
By rewarding technologies which may currently be fitted only on luxury models or as options, Euro NCAP will provide an incentive to manufacturers to accelerate the standard fitment of important safety equipment across their entire model ranges, bringing safety benefits to all.
Many of the technologies are so new that no accepted standards exist to assess them. Euro NCAP has developed a unique methodology which allows the potential safety benefits of any new technology to be determined.
Scientific Evidence
Unlike Euro NCAP’s well established assessments involving physical tests at a crash laboratory, the new process is based entirely on the assessment of scientific evidence presented by the vehicle manufacturer.
An independent panel of experts looks at the extent of the safety problem which a new technology aims to address. Through a logical and rigorous analysis of the way in which the technology has been developed, tested and validated, and from any real-world experience that may exist, the system’s performance and its expected effectiveness can be determined.
Recognition of the potential benefit of these new technologies in no way undermines the importance of basic crash safety: cars are eligible for a Euro NCAP Advanced reward only if they have already achieved a creditable three star rating in the overall rating scheme.
At the eSafety Challenge in Millbrook, Dr Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General of Euro NCAP said “With these rewards Euro NCAP will add a new dimension to its mission. From now on consumers will be able to learn more about the benefits of advanced safety systems in their car and consult Euro NCAP for advice before deciding on purchase. Collectively we can make another step forward in effectively reducing traffic fatalities and injuries on European roads.”
Euro NCAP Advanced rewards
Euro NCAP presented the first Euro NCAP Advanced rewards at a press conference held on October 1st 2010 at the Paris Motor Show. Ten technologies developed by car manufacturers were rewarded for offering scientifically proven safety benefits.
The organization has rewarded the first set of manufacturers for their efforts in their development of new safety features. The 2010 rewarded advanced technologies are:
- Audi Side Assist
- BMW Assist Advanced eCall
- Honda Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS)
- Mercedes-Benz PRE-SAFE® and PRE-SAFE® Brake
- Opel Eye
- Peugeot Connect SOS and
- Citroën Localized Emergency Call
- Volkswagen Lane Assist
- Volvo City Safety
Euro NCAP Advanced is open to any technical system that has a proven safety benefit, whether it is primary, secondary or tertiary, as long as it is available as an option on one of the Euro NCAP tested cars and not already addressed by the current star rating.
The overall rating consists of an independent verification of a car by Euro NCAP based on crash tests and published protocols, The Euro NCAP Advanced assessment is based entirely on manufacturers’ data generated in their own defined test conditions and rigorously analysed by a team of experts appointed by Euro NCAP.
In addition, Euro NCAP Advanced requires manufacturers to identify exactly what the safety impact of their technology may be in European countries, taking into consideration the different infrastructure, jurisdictions and at times driver behaviour.
Car Manufacturers Keen
Car manufacturers are pleased that Euro NCAP is launching an initiative which raises awareness of significant systems offering a safety benefit.
Dr van Ratingen said: ‘Carmakers were involved in the development of the process and were very keen to get their systems into the assessment. We ended up having almost too many dossiers to cope with and we have more coming up in the next months, which is a clear sign that the industry is actively driving safety improvements, even when green cars are top on the agenda.’
Most systems rewarded at the Paris Motor Show were developed a few years ago and have been in the marketplace for at least a year or two. In the future, Euro NCAP Advanced will be able to use the methodology to assess completely new technologies, tackling areas of safety which have not yet been addressed.
Sometimes, it has proven very challenging for some carmakers to present a convincing case on which the Euro NCAP Advanced reward can be based. Not all of the technologies put forward in this first set of assessments have been rewarded. However, manufacturers can further develop their dossiers to demonstrate more clearly the benefits of their technologies, and Euro NCAP would be happy to reassess their systems at that stage.
Understanding The Issues
So far, the dialog with manufacturers on their technologies is helping Euro NCAP to better understand the issues with the current generation of systems and fully digest the way carmakers have evaluated the performance of their systems both in laboratory tests as on the real roads.
The reward systems works two ways: on one hand by rewarding new innovations, Euro NCAP is now helping accelerate uptake of important safety features with the aim to make consumers more aware on the availability and function of these systems. On the other hand, this ultimately provides Euro NCAP with the knowledge to develop future protocols that might be included in the current star rating. Indeed, the overall rating system with its four pillars is designed to make inclusion of new methods, as early as 2013, thus challenging vehicle manufacturers to make all-round safer cars.
Euro NCAP is confirming that other technologies will be assessed in the coming months and will be announced in 2011.
