How Do Car Safety Ratings Work?
When you’re in the market for a new car, it’s likely that safety is at the top of your list of priorities as you search. It’s a particular concern if your new set of wheels is going to be the next family run-around! With so much extra safety tech on board our cars as well as the standard measures taken by manufacturers, it’s important to know how the vehicles on the market stand up to one another in the safety stakes. Luckily, Euro NCAP is an independent body that has this covered, testing and evaluating a car’s performance in the event of an accident, and providing consumers with a place in which to compare cars’ safety credentials.
How are cars safety tested?
Euro NCAP is a recognised organisation set up to put new cars on the market to the test - and it does so through a variety of rigorous crash tests. Euro NCAP keeps up with the latest developments in safety technology, ensuring that new safety features are taken into account in the overall protection provided to occupants, other road users, and pedestrians.
Tests that remain as true to life as possible to replicate collisions as they would happen in the real world are used to assess the impact on the people travelling inside the vehicle, and those outside of it.
Euro NCAP uses a star rating system in order to clearly mark the safety performance of each car, with 5 providing excellent protection. You can search models past and present on their website so compare their star ratings.
What areas of the car are safety tested?
Adult occupant protection
Frontal and lateral impact as well as whiplash tests are carried out on the vehicle to determine the protection they provide to adults travelling within it.
Eventualities such as head-on collisions with other cars, side crashes, and whiplash caused by impact from the rear are considered, and the tests also cover the speed at which adult occupants can be rescued and extracted from a vehicle.
Child occupant protection
This part of the testing process assesses the provisions in place for the safety of children within the car in the event of a crash, and includes the suitability of child restraints. Child dummies are used to keep the tests close to real life, enabling Euro NCAP to assess head movement, neck loads and chest accelerations.
If you’re a parent with small children, no doubt you’ll know the child seat installation struggle - Euro NCAP has a test for this too. A smooth installation maximises a child restraint’s effectiveness in an accident, so including this as part of the safety assessments helps put parents’ minds at ease.
Vulnerable road users
You’ll come across pedestrians and cyclists on almost every drive you do, so it’s important that your car doesn’t pose an unnecessary risk to them too. Euro NCAP’s work in this area is to test the car’s impact at various points on a pedestrian’s body, as well as put the Autonomous Emergency Braking system through its paces around cyclists.
Safety assistance technology
These days, our cars are home to clever tech designed to support safe driving and help prevent accidents. These can include occupant monitoring systems and speed assistance, so Euro NCAP ensures the benefits of these are fully explored on each car they assess.
How important is the Euro NCAP rating of a car?
It’s important to note that every manufacturer adheres to regulations to ensure that the models they produce are safe to travel in and share the roads with. Therefore, a car with a 3-star Euro NCAP rating isn’t unsafe, it’s just that a car with a 5-star rating has extra precautions in place to limit harm and damage where possible.
For those looking for a car that regularly transports their little ones, it’s a 4 or 5-star rating that you’ll want to be searching for to maximise peace of mind.
Find your next used car in Uxbridge
Once you’ve found the safest choice on the Euro NCAP website, look out for it on the West Motors website too, where our wide stock variety is constantly updated. We offer a range of makes and models here at our Greater London dealership, and our experienced team will be happy to talk you through safety features, as well as how we can help your next car fit into your lifestyle and finances. Start your search here.
