What is EuroNCAP?
All cars have to pass crash tests before they are allowed to go on sale, but EuroNCAP – the European New Car Assessment Programme – goes a step further. Based in Brussels, EuroNCAP is an independent body which since 1996 has carried out testing which is more stringent than the legal minimum so that the crash performance of new cars can be compared. The cars are tested in standard form, and EuroNCAP picks the best-selling model. Manufacturers can, if they wish, pay for additional tests on optional safety equipment such as side air bags, but the EuroNCAP ratings are based on the standard car. The tests are carried out on EuroNCAP’s behalf by several European crash test labs, including the Transport Research Laboratory in Berkshire. Four different tests are performed, none of which involves towing a car into a concrete block. In the front impact test, carried out at 40mph (64km/h) the car strikes a deformable aluminium barrier which it overlaps by 40 per cent on the driver’s side – more r
