Euro NCAP to hold manufacturers accountable for autonomous car safety

Euro NCAP aims to hold manufacturers accountable for autonomous car safety with the launch of its Road Map 2025.

The organisation says the initiative will challenge vehicle manufacturers to offer the best possible technology as standard in all segments, protecting not only car occupants but also other more vulnerable road users.

The Road Map outlines a timeline for the introduction of key protocol enhancements, for the first time addressing tertiary safety as part of a holistic approach combing primary and secondary safety features, including:

Primary safety

Driver monitoring (2020), automatic emergency steering (2020, 2022), autonomous emergency braking (2020, 2022), vehicle to vehicle data exchange and vehicle to infrastructure (2024)

Secondary safety

Whiplash/rear-end crash protection (2020), pedestrian and cyclist safety (2022)

Tertiary safety

Rescue, extrication and safety (2020), child presence detection (2022)

Peter Shaw, chief executive of Thatcham Research, said: “Euro NCAP’s Road Map 2025 is a significant message of intent, and marks a watershed in vehicle safety assessments and ratings.

"It is no longer about just protecting car occupants in an accident, but also assessing how capable a car can brake and steer automatically to avoid other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

"It lays the foundations for safety assessment of autonomous vehicles.”

Matthew Avery, Thatcham Research’s director of research, added: “We have concerns over the way car manufacturers name and market assisted and automated driving functionalities, with 'auto' or 'pilot' prefixes.

"People are looking for answers around how safe the new assisted and autonomous technologies are, and the Euro NCAP assessments and ratings will give clear information about how safely it operates, and what obligations the driver has around taking back control.”

Since its establishment in 1997, Euro NCAP has been the catalyst for significant and sustained advances in automotive safety.

Its independent crash tests and continuously evolving assessment protocols have given consumers the knowledge to make informed car purchasing decisions, saving an estimated 76,000 lives across the EU and 15,000 lives in the UK over the past 20 years as a result.

Michiel van Ratingen, secretary general, said, “The potential safety benefits of automated driving are huge. If we can eliminate human error, we should see road casualty numbers tumbling and many lives being saved.

"But there is a lot of misunderstanding, over-expectation and perhaps some suspicion, of a world in which cars can drive themselves.

"Our role will be to provide clear information to consumers about the degree of automation in a car and how safely that automation has been implemented.

"Quite a challenge, but essential if Euro NCAP is to continue pressing for improvements from those who make cars and providing meaningful information to those who buy them.”