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Richard Hammond

Vehicle & Alternative fuels news

Euro NCAP announces 'Highest Scoring Car'

Euro NCAP, Europe’s leading independent crash test organisation, has
confirmed that the Peugeot’s 1007 becomes the highest scoring car ever in
all classes for adult occupant protection. The Peugeot is also Best in the
Super Mini Class and is one of seven cars to be awarded the coveted five
star adult occupant rating. Other crashworthiness results for executive
cars, family cars, small family cars, super-minis and small MPV’s will be
launched at a press conference today (28 June) in Stockholm co-hosted by
Euro NCAP and the Swedish Road Administration (SRA).

‘Best in Class’ awards for adult occupant protection were also announced for
the Lexus GS300 (executive) and Mercedes A-Class (small family). Seven cars
have achieved the four star Euro NCAP rating for child protection. While
Honda’s FR-V and Suzuki’s Swift are awarded the three star Euro NCAP rating
for pedestrian protection.

In this phase, intelligent seat belt reminders for rear seat occupants have
been introduced by Peugeot in their 1007 and by Mercedes in their A-Class.
Two cars reported on in earlier phases, the Renault Laguna and Renault Vel
Satis have had their Seat Belt Reminder systems extended to cover the Front
Passenger. All of this is significant, as increased seat belt wearing rates
are essential if we are to maximise the enormous safety gains achieved by
Euro NCAP over recent years and save the 7,000 fatalities attributed to
non-belt use in Europe.

Claes Tingvall, Euro NCAP Chairman said,

“It is gratifying to see that more than half of the cars tested in this
phase achieved the top five star rating for adult occupant protection and
that three of the cars achieved the ‘Best in Class’ accolade, giving Europe’
s car buyers a wider range of safe cars than ever before to choose from.

“I am encouraged to see that more cars than ever are achieving the four Star
Child Protection rating, when the recommended restraint is used. This is a
very welcome development, but it is important to note that the rating
applies only to the car in combination with the particular restraint used.

“Many manufacturers are now focussed on pedestrian protection and are making
a good deal of progress in improving protection for pedestrians and other
vulnerable road users, although some are still lagging behind.

“I would urge all manufacturers to use the Best in Class as their bench mark
and for everyone to redouble their efforts in this important safety area.

“All but one of the cars was fitted with some form of seat belt reminder and
I am delighted to see the increased fitment of belt reminders for all
seating positions.

“Many cars can now be purchased with Stability Control. Accident research
has shown that such systems help the driver maintain control of the car and
the research shows that if all cars in Europe were fitted with stability
control, thousands of lives could be saved. The benefits are large enough
for Euro NCAP to strongly recommend all car buyers to choose a car with
stability control, additional information can be found on www.euroncap.com.”

Summary of Results

Superminis:

Peugeot 1007
Occupant Protection: 5 stars
Child Protection: 3 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 2 star

Renault Clio
Occupant Protection: 5 stars
Child Protection: 4 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 1 star

Citroën C1
Occupant Protection: 4 stars
Child Protection: 3 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 2 star

Suzuki Swift
Occupant Protection: 4 stars
Child Protection: 3 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 3 star

Smart Forfour
Occupant Protection: 4 stars
Child Protection: 2 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 1 star

Small Family Cars:

Mercedes A-Class
Occupant Protection: 5 stars
Child Protection: 4 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 2 stars

Fiat Stilo
Occupant Protection: 4 stars
Child Protection: 4 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 1 stars

Dacia Logan
Occupant Protection: 3 stars
Child Protection: 3 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 1 star

Family Cars:

BMW 3-Series
Occupant Protection: 5 stars
Child Protection: 4 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 1 star

VW Passat
Occupant Protection: 5 stars
Child Protection: 4 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 2 stars

Executive Cars:

Lexus GS300
Occupant Protection: 5 stars
Child Protection: 4 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 2 star

Small MPVs:

Vauxhall Zafira
Occupant Protection: 5 stars
Child Protection: 4 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 2 stars

Honda FR-V
Occupant Protection: 4 stars
Child Protection: 3 stars
Pedestrian Protection: 3 stars

Dr Stephen Ladyman, United Kingdom Transport Minister, said,

" I am pleased that car manufacturers are continuing to improve their
ratings in the independent Euro NCAP crash tests and are bringing forward
systems that improve car occupant safety. I particularly welcome the uptake
of measures to protect occupants during side impact and look forward to
seeing further increases in the protective measures provided for this type
of accident.

"But I would urge manufacturers to apply similar effort and ingenuity to
protecting our children to redress the disappointing scores for child
occupant protection”.

Andrew Miller, Director of Research, Thatcham, said,

“Thatcham, as the representative of the British Insurers, welcomes the
continued advance in adult passenger safety demonstrated in this latest set
of ratings. However, we are concerned to note that the Dacia Logan, a
vehicle designed for the accession states, has achieved a much lower safety
rating than that typical in the wider European market.”

David Ward, Director General of the FIA Foundation said,

"This launch is significant because for the first time Euro NCAP is
recommending electronic stability control (ESC) as a key safety feature that
consumers should look for when choosing a new car. Technology of this kind
can be vital in helping to prevent a crash, and complements Euro NCAP's
existing crash testing programme which focuses on minimising the
consequences if a crash does occur. The new generation of safe car must
combine technology for crash prevention as well as five star crash
protection."

Dr Wilfried Klanner, Testing and Technical Manager for the ADAC said,

“The total result of Phase 16 confirmed the good results of the preceding
phase. Passive vehicle safety has been continuously improved on a broad
basis. Despite the variety of the selected vehicle classes the majority of
the vehicles, once more, show a good safety standard.

“However, pedestrian protection still holds a large potential for
improvement. Except for the Honda FR-V and the Suzuki Swift which achieved
three stars, six car models achieved the two star rating but five others, a
disappointing one star rating in pedestrian protection.”

Guido Adriaenssens, ICRT Chief Executive said,

“Now that the vast majority of cars deliver adequate occupant protection in
frontal and side impacts, only the Dacia Logan is lagging behind in the
series of results presented today, Euro NCAP faces the challenge to extent
its rating to new areas.

“Whiplash related injuries are an important social phenomenon. Car
manufacturers tend to acknowledge that and introduce active systems in their
cars. ICRT strongly supports initiatives within Euro NCAP to extend the
program to include testing for Whiplash protection.”

For more information contact: office@euroncap.com

Editors note:

1. Organisations participating to Euro NCAP include the Departments of
Transport of Sweden, The Netherlands, France, Germany, the United Kingdom
and Catalonia as well as the European Commission, the FIA Foundation, the
Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC), Thatcham and the International
Consumer Research and Testing (ICRT) on behalf of the European consumer
organisations.

2. The results are announced in Stockholm.

3. Future Phases will continue with testing of new cars in all segments.

4. Australia has adopted the same testing protocols as Euro NCAP and they
are publishing results from Euro NCAP that are applicable in their market.
The Euro NCAP testing protocols are unique in that they include tests for
front, side impact and pole impact and also gives information on pedestrian.

5. Euro NCAP introduced an additional star rating for child protection in
November 2003. This rating is for a combination of a car with specific child
seats that have been recommended by the car manufacturer. The combination
can now earn up to five stars for child protection. The rating depends on
the fitting instructions for the child seats, the car’s ability to
accommodate them safely and their performance in front and side impact
tests. However, there are important limitations to this rating, which are:

• The child protection rating can not be used for the car alone, nor can it
be used for the car with a different combination of child seats.
• The tested child seat alone does not have a child protection rating.
• The same child seat tested in combination with other cars may give a
different child protection rating.

6. The front impact test is conducted at 64km/h (40mph) into an offset
deformable barrier, the side impact test 50km/h (30mph), the pole test at
29km/h (18mph) and the pedestrian tests at 40km/h (25mph).

7. The full results will be on the web site www.euroncap.com from 28 June.