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| The Euro NCAP tests have become
the motor industry’s benchmark for safety. Here, we list
the latest results and reveal those five-star manufacturers |
It is a fact that safety sells cars – and drivers demand reliable
and accurate information on the safety performances of cars before
deciding what to buy.
By law, all new car models must pass certain safety tests before they
are sold. But legislation provides a minimum statutory standard of
safety for new cars.
It is the aim of Euro NCAP to encourage manufacturers to exceed these
minimum requirements, using a wide and far-reaching series of tests.
Comprehensive tests are carried out to replicate accidents involving
child and adult pedestrians where impacts occur at 40kph (25mph).
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| NOTE: Because of the changes to
the pedestrian testing and rating procedure, a blue-star
result cannot be compared with a green-star result. |
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Impact sites are then assessed and rated fair, weak and poor. As with
other tests, these are based on European Enhanced Vehicle Safety Committee
guidelines.
Hybrid III and EuroSID-I are the Euro NCAP crash-test dummies. Their
role is vital: the accident simulations rely on having a driver and
passenger aboard to provide a full picture of likely injuries in a
crash, although the pedestrian safety tests use simulated limbs to
chart what happens in a collision.
They are steel-skeletoned, rubber-skinned dummies packed with sensing
equipment. They each cost in excess of £100,000 to build
Since January 2002, Euro NCAP has also introduced a more stringent
pedestrian test rating, assessing the impact vehicles have on pedestrians
during a collision.
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