NCAP announces tougher testing

Safety testing organisation Euro NCAP is planning to put more emphasis on pedestrian protection and the fitment of stability control systems in its future evaluations.

Four of the five cars rated in the latest round of Euro NCAP crash tests – the Hyundai i30, Lancia Delta, Renault Koleos and Mercedes ML - scored five stars for adult occupant protection. The Daihatsu Cuore scored four stars. But all of the cars did less well in the new test for child occupant protection, with the i30 and Koleos scoring four stars and the others only three.

Scores were also poor in the pedestrian impact test, with the Mercedes ML scoring just one star and the other cars managing just two.

Euro NCAP has confirmed that it will stick to its current five-star rating system, confounding rumours that it was set to adopt a six-star standard, but that in future the overall rating will reflect a combination of adult and child occupant protection scores, along with how a car copes with pedestrian impact and whether stability control systems are offered as standard.

“It is imperative that Euro NCAP continues to set higher benchmarks for carmakers to aspire to,” said Michiel van Ratingen, Euro NCAP’s secretary general, “I have no doubt that manufacturers will step up to the challenge, just as they did when we first started.”