Honda Civic

“While occupant protection continues to improve, the number of manufacturers scoring only one or two stars for pedestrian protection is still very disappointing”

In recent years, it has become almost commonplace for Euro NCAP-tested vehicles to achieve either four or the top rating of five stars for occupant safety in front and side impact crashes. However, most manufacturers are routinely failing in their duty to improve pedestrian protection, say backers of the Euro NCAP programme.

Max Mosley, Euro NCAP Chairman and FIA President, said: “The latest cars tested by Euro NCAP demonstrate very high levels of occupant safety, giving Europe’s car buyers a wider range of safer models than ever before. Unfortunately, while occupant protection continues to improve, the number of manufacturers scoring only one or two stars for pedestrian protection is still very disappointing. Euro NCAP urges all manufacturers to redouble their efforts in addressing pedestrian safety.”

It is hoped, but by no means certain, that from 2005 a new European Commission directive will become law, thus forcing vehicle manufacturers to improve the head and leg protection for pedestrians and other vulnerable road users in the event of a collision with a vehicle. Then, from a proposed date of 2010, even tougher tests will be introduced (Roadsafe: winter 2003/04). Transport Minister David Jamieson says: “It is very important that pedestrian scores start to improve before new European standards begin to take effect in 2005.”

And Guido Adriaenssens, Chief Executive of International Consumer Research and Testing on behalf of the European consumer organisations, says: “With each year that passes, it is becoming harder for manufacturers to defend this lack of attention to pedestrian protection.” However, Honda says it has been focusing on reducing pedestrian deaths and injuries when involved in collision with a car for more than 10 years.

That technology is designed into all Honda vehicles and has been continually refined to enable the Jazz supermini, lower medium sector Civic, Stream MPV and CR-V sports utility vehicle to achieve three out of four stars in the pedestrian tests. They all have four-star occupant protection ratings.

When the Civic became the first car to achieve a threestar rating – it was a point away from a four-star rating – Mr Mosley said: “It’s clear that a manufacturer has designed a car that genuinely balances the safety needs of both occupants and pedestrians. This clearly demonstrates what car designers can do to improve the safety of vulnerable road users.” Both the Civic and the Stream were tested before more stringent pedestrian tests and ratings were introduced in January 2002. Under the tougher tests the new Accord achieved a two-star rating last year and last month the Jazz joined the three-star club becoming the first supermini to achieve that status. But, it is fair to say that today’s two-star rated car would be yesterday’s three-star rated vehicle. Julian Warren, senior project engineer in Honda’s research and development department at its Swindon factory mainly responsible for passive safety, says: “Honda likes to set itself challenges. We set ourselves the target of making vehicles more pedestrian friendly because it is good for society. I think our new vehicles will achieve CR-V levels of safety if not better.

“Honda set itself the target of making vehicles more pedestrian friendly because it is good for society”

“Occupant safety had been progressing for sometime, but it was a conscious decision to take the lead in pedestrian safety because it was an area no other manufacturer was tackling.”

Initially Honda established its own testing criteria, compiled its own road accident analysis and computer-assisted accident simulation and designed its own pedestrian dummies, because no guidance had been published by the authorities until the Euro NCAP crash test programme included the pedestrian rating criteria. Only the Daihatsu Sirion supermini in 2000, the Mazda Premacy MPV in 2001 (both under the old testing procedures) and last year the MG TF Roadster and the Volkswagen Touran MPV have achieved three star pedestrian test ratings. The first four-star rated vehicle under the tests has yet to be produced.

Features pioneered by Honda and now designed into all vehicles include:

• An unobstructed area beneath the bonnet allowing it to deform on impact – essentially 80mm of space between the bonnet and “hard areas” below
• Bonnet hinges, front wing-mounting brackets and radiator top brackets that compress under impact
• Energy-absorbing front bumpers
• Energy-absorbing sliding window-wiper pivots

About 8,000 pedestrians and cyclists are killed and a further 300,000 injured in the EC each year as a result of road accidents – those figures will rise as a result of the recent expansion of the community. However, it is estimated that pedestrian-friendly car design could avoid up to 25% of those deaths.

Mr Warren says: “By ensuring surfaces deform on impact and creating space behind impact areas such as bonnets, wings and bumpers and in front of hard areas we can reduce pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries.” The future is likely to see vehicles fitted with pop-up bonnets and sausage-shaped airbags to protect pedestrians from injuries if they hit the hard A-pillars of vehicles.

However, says Mr Warren, critical to the introduction of such technology will be refinement of in-vehicle sensors that will be able to “recognise” what has been hit. EC legislators understand that such pedestrian-friendly features must be designed into the vehicle at launch and, therefore, have decreed that manufacturers will have five years for all new vehicles to meet even the toughest 2010 tests, if the directive is approved. Honda’s own government and EC relations’ staff are in daily contact with Eurocrats who are lobbying on the planned legislation.

Mr Warren says: “The new rules are undoubtedly a challenge. There are so many requirements to meet in vehicle design – our own internal targets, European and North American targets, Japanese targets on pedestrian legislation and global technical standards for pedestrian protection.” In fact, in the future, different versions of the same model may have to be produced by vehicle manufacturers to meet different “local” pedestrian solutions in Europe, North America and Japan.

However, Mr Warren dismisses fears that tomorrow’s cars will all be identikit models to meet the safety criteria. He argues that it will “not be too difficult” to design rear and mid-engine cars to be pedestrian-friendly because there are no hard structures underneath the bonnet, and that safetyrelated features can be engineered into front-engine cars on the drawing board.

Nevertheless, whatever the legislators have in store it should, says Mr Warren, be technically feasible in the future for manufacturers to design and produce a pedestrian-friendly “non-killing” car as synergies are achieved between a raft of new technologies embracing smart cruise control, collision avoidance mechanisms, pedestrian protection and pre-impact collision systems. “That is the ultimate goal. It is technically possible but it is a long way into the future and it will be expensive,” he says.

It is currently doubtful that the pedestrian-friendliness of a car is high on any fleet or driver’s vehicle selection criteria. However, neither was occupant safety until the Euro NCAP crash tests were launched in 1997 and some fleets started to eliminate “low rated” cars from their choice lists. Mr Warren says: “Manufacturers eventually had to take notice of the occupant safety ratings. Today, four stars is the minimum acceptable in front and side impact tests and five stars is a bonus. As for pedestrian safety, Honda took the view a decade ago that making vehicles more pedestrian-friendly was good for society.

“We have set ourselves targets and we want to be the company that is recognised for tackling major issues that are of concern to society – issues such as pedestrian safety. It is about good corporate citizenship.”