When it comes to buying a car, you’ll want to know it’s safe for both you and your passengers. To measure the safety of a vehicle, manufacturers test their cars by mimicking real-life situations which includes physical crash tests.
As an addition to standard manufacturer tests, every make and model of car is subject to Euro NCAP tests that rate the safety of a vehicle. In this article all about how cars are tested for safety, we explain how crash testing works and why Euro NCAP ratings are important. Read on to find out more..
How is a car tested for safety?
Before a make and model of car is available to consumers, it is rigorously tested for safety first. These specially designed tests mimic real-life driving situations - including collisions with moving and static barriers. The simulated safety tests are conducted in a contained environment using crash test dummies which represent a driver and their passengers.
How are car crash tests carried out?
It’s important for vehicle manufacturers to simulate accidents that affect part of the car. Through a range of purposely destructive tests, engineers fabricate situations that impact the front, rear and side of the vehicle. These safety tests will be conducted during moving and static collisions to fully understand and see the damage caused.
From these types of tests, a whole range of assessments will be made during the process. Engineers are specifically looking at the rate at which airbags are deployed, seat belt effectiveness and strength, objects that may inadvertently come loose in the cabin, any injuries that may be sustained on the crash test dummies, plus the vehicle’s external post-collision condition.
Safety tests will also be used to demonstrate the impact on crash test dummies that are secured with seat belts, by comparing those which aren’t. Manufacturers are constantly developing and refining the safety of cars to protect those on board.
What is Euro NCAP?
As a driver, it’s likely that you’ve already heard of Euro NCAP, but are you aware of its importance when it comes to choosing a new or used car? Euro NCAP stands for the European New Car Assessment Programme and is a five-star safety rating system designed to help consumers easily identify the safest cars on the market.
Euro NCAP tests are independent from manufacturer safety tests, but operate in much the same way. Ultimately, Euro NCAP is there to understand how safe a car is and the impact on a driver and their passengers if a collision were to occur.
Providing safety ratings since 2009, assessments are made in four key areas. These are:
- Adult Occupant Protection (both both the driver and passengers)
- Child Occupant Protection
- Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) Protection (for pedestrians and cyclists)
- Safety Assist (evaluating driver-assistance and crash-avoidance technologies)
How does Euro NCAP work?
Based on a five-star system which rates the overall safety of a vehicle, Euro NCAP scores cars from one to five; zero stars being the lowest and five stars being the highest. Every time a new model of car comes out, it will be tested under Euro NCAP, so it’s important that consumers look out for the latest star rating against that particular model.
Here’s how Euro NCAPs star-based safety system works:
- 5-star safety - Overall excellent performance in crash protection tests; the vehicle is well equipped with comprehensive and robust crash avoidance technology
- 4-star safety - Overall good performance in crash protection tests; all round additional crash avoidance technology may be present in the vehicle
- 3-star safety - At least average occupant protection during tests, but the vehicle is not always equipped with the latest crash avoidance features
- 2-star safety - Nominal crash protection during tests, but the vehicle is lacking crash avoidance technology
- 1-star safety - Marginal crash protection during tests and little in the way of crash avoidance technology present in the vehicle
- 0-star safety - Meeting type-approval standards during tests so the vehicle can legally be sold, but lacking critical modern safety technology
When it comes to ultimate car safety, the more stars the better. It’s worth knowing that as of 2016, some cars have two separate star ratings. This is because the car will have been assessed based on the standard safety it offers, plus if an additional safety pack is available, it will have a separate star rating which ‘boosts’ the safety level originally given by Euro NCAP.
What is the difference between Global NCAP and Euro NCAP?
Operating in the same way as Euro NCAP, Global NCAP (sometimes referred to as G-NCAP) is a new car assessment programme that measures the safety of cars for a global market, rather than just for the European market. Like Euro NCAP, Global NCAP is based on a five-star safety scoring system that rates the cars from a poor level of protection to a good level of protection.
G-NCAP also uses a points based system to measure adult occupant protection and child occupant protection, so that consumers have a further understanding of how the crash dummies fared in safety tests.
Euro NCAPs safest cars of 2022
Euro NCAP has announced the winners of its five-star safety system assessments from 2022, in what has been the organisation's busiest year yet. The cars that scored the highest include two of Tesla’s EV models and two Chinese newcomers to the European market, they are:
- Hyundai IONIQ 6 was awarded the highest score in the Large Family Car category
- ORA Funky Cat was awarded the highest score in the Small Family Car category
- Tesla Model S was awarded the highest score in the Executive Car category
- Tesla Model Y was awarded the highest score in the Small Off-Roader category
- WEY Coffee 01 was awarded the highest score in the Large Off-Roader category
Find the safest family cars at Windmill Motors
If you’re looking for a car to suit you and your family, then safety will no doubt be your number one priority. Here at our Windmill Motors dealership based in Bourne, Lincolnshire, you can choose from up to 200 quality used cars - many of which have been awarded a five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP.
From the BMW X1 to the Kia Sportage, the Land Rover Range Rover to the Volkswagen Golf, you can explore the safest family cars on the market at the click of a button thanks to our interactive online showroom. Start your search today!
Why not discover the best cars to buy for you and your family by reading our Family Car Buying Guide where we highlight what makes the ideal family car, the best car for a family of five and the best car with seven seats.