Whiplash, caused by or related to a sudden distortion of the spine, can lead to long painful and debilitating symptoms over many years. Although Whiplash is not uncommon in frontal and side impact accidents, it most frequently occurs in low speed, rear end collisions. Whiplash injuries are difficult to diagnose, difficult to treat and are estimated to cost the European society up to 10 billion Euro annually. The high frequency of whiplash injury, the personal suffering and the cost to European society have motivated Euro NCAP to integrate a rear impact test into its crash test programme.

While the mechanisms by which the injuries are caused are not fully understood, it is known that seat and head restraint design can influence the risk of injury. The test procedure applied by Euro NCAP therefore promotes the best practice in seat design, in particular good head restraint geometry, its ease of use as far as adjustment, the locking of the head restraint and the overall seat integrity.

The Whiplash score is based on both the geometrical aspects of the (driver/passenger) seat, the size and shape of the head restraint and its proximity to the occupant, as well as the seat and head restraint dynamic performance during an actual crash test. This dynamic performance is assessed using a seat mounted on a sled test, subjected to low, moderate and higher test severities representing a range of crash forces believed to cause injury. The whiplash score is included in the Adult Protection score as of January 2009.
 

Car manufacturers and their suppliers perform many hundreds of tests when developing the electronic stability control (ESC) systems for their vehicles. They try to ensure that the system will work in every possible circumstance: different speeds and road conditions, and different manoeuvres and driver response.

Euro NCAP does not have the resources to replicate all of the manufacturer’s development tests to see how well a system performs. However, there is currently no single test, or simple combination of tests, that can allow conclusions to be drawn about the safety which an ESC system is likely to provide in real life. Similarly, analyses of real-life accident cannot differentiate between the safety offered by different types of systems; they can only tell that cars equipped with ESC are involved in fewer accidents, and less serious ones, than cars without.

Euro NCAP and its members are continuing to work on possible test methods. Ensuring repeatable, comparable results is of primary importance if we are to offer consumers information on the relative safety offered by different systems. Until a method is found to ensure that level of repeatability, Euro NCAP is rewarding the fitment of ESC, rather than its technical performance.

Since 2008, Euro NCAP has been trying to promote broad fitment of ESC by all vehicle manufacturers. Unfortunately, fitment varies greatly between different European countries and between different vehicle categories. To drive greater levels of fitment, Euro NCAP now gives three points to a car if ESC is fitted as standard across the model range, or if it is an option on every variant and the manufacturer also expects to sell at least 85 percent of cars with the system as standard equipment. The minimum percentage will increase to 90 in 2010 and to 95 percent in 2011. By 2012, Euro NCAP will assess and reward only equipment which is fitted as standard across the whole of the model range.
 

The seatbelt remains the single-most effective item of safety equipment in any car. It is the most fundamental part of any restraint system and manufacturers are continuing to develop new and better seatbelt systems to provide ever greater protection. However, many people continue to drive without wearing their seatbelts, and such people are vastly over-represented in statistics of severe and fatal injuries.

Many of those who do not routinely wear their seatbelts would do so if prompted by a signal. Research shows that occupants are much more likely to wear their belts in cars equipped with a seatbelt reminder (SBR) than in those without. Euro NCAP rewards any effort made to ensure that seatbelts are worn.

Euro NCAP assesses manufacturers’ SBR systems to ensure that they are robust and that they provide clear, unambiguous information to the occupants about the status of their seatbelts. Trained inspectors perform a multitude of tests on each system: the car is driven on a test track and the belts are buckled and unbuckled; the loudness, and duration of the audible signal is assessed; the position and clarity of any visual warning is checked to ensure that it is visible to occupants of different sizes. The assessment tries to recreate every possible scenario where an occupant might be vulnerable by being unbelted, and checks to see if the system responds appropriately. One point is available for each of the driver, passenger and rear seats for those systems that pass the assessment.
 

Excessive speed is a factor in the causation and severity of many road accidents. Speed limits are intended to keep traffic speeds below the maximum that is appropriate for a given environment, ensuring the safety of motorists and other road users. Properly chosen, these speed limits should facilitate efficient traffic flow and promote safe driving conditions.

Greater adherence to speed limits would avert many accidents and mitigate the effects of those that occur and Euro NCAP rewards systems that help drivers to control their speed. Currently, Euro NCAP rewards only systems which are voluntarily set by the driver. In the future, systems may become available which automatically detect the speed limit at any point in the road network and limit a car’s maximum speed appropriately.

Euro NCAP currently rewards two types of system: those which can be set by the driver and which actively prevent the car from exceeding that maximum; and those which simply warn the driver when the car’s speed is above the set maximum. The functionality of the system is considered to make sure that the system can be set and unset easily and without undue distraction to the driver; the clarity of the signals given to the driver are assessed to make sure that there is no confusion about the current set maximum and to ensure that a suitable warning is given if the system is unable to limit the speed to that maximum. For active systems, a check is made to ensure the system is able to limit the speed of a car to the maximum set by the driver. At each of three speeds, the accuracy with which the set maximum can be maintained is determined.

A maximum of one point is available to active systems which meet Euro NCAP’s requirements. Warning-only systems can get a maximum of 0.5 points.