(click the picture above for Euro NCAP's timeline as PDF)
Tentative Steps
From the 1970s, a number of European governments had been working, through the European Experimental Vehicles Committee (EEVC), on assessing various aspects of car secondary safety. By the early 1990s, this research had resulted in the development of full scale crash test procedures, for protection of car occupants in frontal and side impact, and a component test procedure for assessing the protection of pedestrians, hit by the fronts of cars.
By 1994, proposals for the adoption in European legislation of the EEVC test proposals were being strongly resisted by the car industry. In June 1994, the UK Department of Transport considered the set up of an NCAP in the UK, which could later expand across Europe. The programme would be more comprehensive and based on the test procedures developed by the EEVC. In July 1995, those interested in expanding the programme to Europe met at the European Commission to discuss how this might be taken forward.
From the beginning, the programme was ambitious, more comprehensive and there was a determination to ensure that full advantage was taken to ensure that the testing and assessment was scientifically based.
For the first phase of tests, seven supermini sized cars were chosen and the manufacturers were asked to supply information about those cars.
For comparative testing, it was clear that the testing had to be carried out to a higher standard than was necessary for legislation. Because of this, a detailed test protocol was developed.
For the development of the Assessment Protocol, access to the latest research and personal contacts with most of the World’s experts proved invaluable. A unique feature of the assessment procedure related to the inclusion of information from an expert inspection, carried out on each car. The prime purpose of the inspection is to extend the validity of the assessment to cover a wider range of car occupant sizes, seating positions and impact situations.
In November of 1996, the Swedish National Road Administration (SNRA), the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and International Testing were the first organisations to join the programme. This resulted in Euro NCAP being formed. Its inaugural meeting was held in December 1996.
Very first results and first 5-star car
In February 1997, the first results were presented at a press conference. With the formation of Euro NCAP, results were presented for Adult Occupant Protection and Pedestrian Protection ratings. The release of these first results caused considerable media interest, which was fuelled by the strong negative response of the car manufacturers. On the same day, the car manufacturers heavily criticised Euro NCAP, its tests and its ratings. One of the many claims was that the assessment criteria were so severe that no car could achieve four stars, for occupant protection.
In July 1997, the results from the second phase of tests were published and Euro NCAP was pleased to be able to announce that the Volvo S40 had become the first 4-star car for occupant protection.
Gradually Euro NCAP expanded its membership, more European governments, ADAC and Thatcham on behalf of British insurers joined in with their support for the organization.
As new car models replaced those already tested, the improvements in their occupant star ratings could be clearly seen. Unfortunately, improvements were far slower to emerge for pedestrian protection.
In 1999, operational control of Euro NCAP moved from the UK to a full time Secretariat based in Brussels.
In June 2001, a further milestone was reached when the Renault Laguna became the first car to be awarded 5 stars for occupant protection. Since 2001, standards have risen so that it is more common to achieve this rating and increasingly manufacturers see five stars in adult occupant protection as the goal for all their new models.
New Child Protection Rating
On 27th November in 2003 at a launch event in Athens, Euro NCAP announced the introduction of a New Child Protection Rating. Surveys have shown that over 60% of child restraints are not used as intended. This may be due to incorrect installation of the seat or weak fitment of the harness on the child or even because the wrong seat has been used in the car. This rating is based on the evaluation of the manufacturer’s recommended child restraints for an 18-month infant and a 3-year old child and intends to give consumers clear information about the protection offered to children by carmakers. With this rating, Euro NCAP encourages child seat and vehicle manufacturers as well as parents to take a joint responsibility for the safety of children travelling in cars.
And then there were picks-ups...
In February 2008, Euro NCAP began testing pick-ups for the first time. Euro NCAP had noticed that these vehicles, were not just being used for the carriage of goods but with a twin cabin, were marketed at families. None of the cars tested achieved a higher score than four stars. The results demonstrated that testing vehicles outside the mainstream can still generate a surprising outcome in occupant protection.
Whiplash
On 26th November in 2008 at Thatcham in the UK, Euro NCAP released the results for seats put through the organisation’s first ever round of rear impact or whiplash tests. Euro NCAP carried out testing on the front seats of 25 passenger cars crash-tested by the organisation during 2008. The results clearly revealed that most manufacturers still have a long way to go in improving seat design that will protect consumers from whiplash injury. Euro NCAP’s test procedure was developed to take into account both the geometrical aspects of the seat, the size and shape of the head restraint and its proximity to the occupant and its dynamic performance during an actual crash test. This dynamic performance is assessed using a seat mounted on a sled test, subjected to low, moderate and higher test severities representing a range of crash forces causing injury.
And finally a new Rating Scheme
This new Whiplash test forms part of Euro NCAP’s new rating scheme launched in February 2009. In 2007, despite good scores in adult occupant protection, 67% of models were awarded just two stars in Euro NCAP’s pedestrian rating. Euro NCAP’s concern was that many manufacturers set out to achieve high scores for adult occupant protection to attract consumers, whilst compromising safety investment in other areas. Euro NCAP believes that consumers are interested in the safety offered to all occupants and also to other road users when they are choosing a new car. For this reason, Euro NCAP has developed a new rating system that will reward the overall safety of a vehicle. The maximum rating in Euro NCAP’s new system remains five stars. However, the new overall rating reflects the protection offered to adult and child occupants as well as pedestrians and, for the first time, considers the safety potential of advanced driver assistance technologies such as electronic stability control.