Vehicle safety body Euro NCAP is dramatically changing the way it tests cars, primarily to better evaluate the effectiveness of cars' driver assistance systems and the usability of their cockpits.
NCAP says it is the biggest change it has made to its testing programme since 2009, with the new procedure overhauling the way cars are tested and scored - under four new core pillars of safety: safe driving, crash avoidance, crash protection and post-crash safety.
Importantly, the organisation says, several of these changes – coming into effect from 2026 – have been made "in response to consumer feedback", highlighting criticism over the "annoying warnings or intrusive interventions" of some advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
It is also seeking to better evaluate the real-world utility of such systems, to ensure they function as required outside of the confines of the test track.
From 2026, higher safety ratings will be awarded to cars equipped with "driver monitoring technologies that maintain attention and engagement behind the wheel", with points awarded to "systems that monitor driver performance in real time".
The best scores will be awarded to cars that continuously track the head and eye movements of their drivers, and use that information to adjust the sensitivity of the ADAS functions - with special commendation to systems that can detect the influence of drugs or alcohol, and safely stop the car if the driver falls unconscious.
NCAP will also evaluate the "placement, clarity, and ease of use" of essential controls, and its new scoring system will emphasise the importance of physical buttons for commonly used functions - in response to consumer feedback which suggests they can reduce distraction.
Various parts of the testing process will also be updated to ensure NCAP's ratings are based on the real-world effectiveness of safety systems, not just their performance on the test track.
Testers will evaluate the accuracy of speed-limit recognition functions – a common pitfall of modern ADAS suites – on the road, for example, "with the aim of improving consumer acceptance".
This focus on real-world efficacy extends to a new testing programme for crash-prevention technologies including autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and lane-keep assist - which will "reflect real-world accident patterns" by introducing new urban-focused test scenarios which include cyclists and motorcyclists as part of the simulated traffic.
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