Passive Safety Equipment Issues: New EuroNCAP Tests
Each huge manufacturer is perfectly aware that releasing a new car involves facing a number of risks. Neither thousands of human-hours nor millions of euro spent on testing can ensure that the car will pass EuroNCAP tests with flying colors. Year after year the passive safety committee featuring experts from the UK, Germany, France, Sweden and other countries spends hundreds of thousands of euro on testing all the novelties entering the European market.
The first tests according to the set standards were carried out in 1997 – at those time only the front collision was obligatory. Nowadays, EuroNCAP rating includes front collision with a deformable obstacle at 64 km/h, side collision with a stiff barrier at 50 km/h, pedestrian accident at 40 km/k, and front stand collision (which imitates roll-over) at 28 km/h.
Three years ago the basic test program started featuring tests using recommended children seats. This innovation caused a number of hacks. For instance, Renault Twingo got only 4 overall stars as the recommended seats didn’t match the fastenings – for Renault such a result was a complete failure.
Nevertheless, Renault was the first European manufacturer to released a 5-star car on the market – Laguna 2002. A number of reliable organizations conduct tests according to EuroNCAP’s methods – the German ADAC plus a wide range of specialized Mass Media.
But the Euro committee is not planning to stop at this level: in the near future the standards will be reconsidered and the term “passive safety” will gain new meanings. It is no big secret that at the moment the overwhelming majority of cars get 5-star ratings and that forces the testers to toughen the requirements. Thus, this year the requirements will include active head-rests – they effectively protect the spine and head in crashed from the back.
But the most peculiar thing is that there will be new tests: ESP, ABS and other systems’ tests. In fact, the huge American and European manufacturers are able to answer to the new requirements adequately, but the case is not that obvious with the Chinese manufacturers. The exact dates of the introduction of the new standards have not been announced yet, but, according to a number of worthy sources, this introduction is inevitable.
What does that mean for the consumers? First of all, it is another rise of prices, isn’t it?
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