Test procedures explained

Today, more than ever before, safety sells cars. For car buyers it is a key element of their purchasing decision.

It's essential that motoring consumers can obtain reliable and accurate comparative information regarding the safety performance of individual car models.

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.

This section of the site contains an explanation of how Euro NCAP's different crash tests are performed and how our safety ratings are reached.