IN SAFE HANDS?

We get the lowdown on Euro NCAP's test regime for advanced driver-assistance tech

- Chris Rosamond

NEW safety tech isn't just a challenge that car makers must get right. Official test body Euro NCAP itself must find ways of accurately rating the performance of vehicle systems designed to meet the increasingly tough criteria it sets. Which is why we find ourselves at the MIRA test track in Warwickshire on a bright spring morning in the company of the dedicated team charged with rating the performance of the all-new electric Renault 5.

We're here at the invitation of Euro NCAP, which is keen to explain how it tests Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) such as steering assist and collision avoidance, as part of an effort to promote driver understanding of this increasingly ubiquitous and controversial tech. So we're going to witness the organisation's latest Assisted Driving Test protocol being carried out for the first time in the UK.

Or at least we'll be witnessing some of it. The full Euro NCAP 2024 Assisted Driving Test and Assessment protocol runs to nearly 60 pages, and awards points for the performance during live testing of speed assistance, adaptive cruise control, steering assistance and collision avoidance. Points are also awarded for how well brands explain their systems through marketing and handbook content, and how drivers are able to engage with the systems in practice. Of course, this is on top of the raft of passive crash and safety system tests carried out by Euro NCAP, which have all helped to make the organisation such an indisputably powerful force for change.

STANDARDISING TEST METHODS

IN order to rate one car’s performance against another model's, Euro NCAP must be able to systematically repeat tests within an exact set of parameters. That's not easy when a number of the protocols include the vehicle being tested in scenarios including other vehicles – cars, motorcycles and even bicycles – which can either be moving or stationary.