A crash test is a form of destructive testing usually performed in order to ensure safe design standards in crashworthiness and crash compatibility for various modes of transportation (see automobile safety) or related systems and components.
A crash test is a form of destructive testing usually performed in order to ensure safe design standards in crashworthiness and crash compatibility for various modes of transportation (see automobile safety) or related systems and components.
| Name | Abbreviation | Founded | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States New Car Assessment Program | US NCAP (U.S. NCAP) | 1978 | Washington, DC, USA |
| Insurance Institute for Highway Safety | IIHS | 1959, Ratings from 1995 | Arlington, VA, USA |
| Australasian New Car Assessment Program | ANCAP | 1993 | Canberra, Australia |
| Japan New Car Assessment Programme | JNCAP | 1995 | Tokyo, Japan |
| European New Car Assessment Programme | Euro NCAP | 1996 | Leuven, Belgium |
| Korean New Car Assessment Programme | KNCAP | 1999 | Seoul, South Korea |
| China – New Car Assessment Programme | C-NCAP | 2006 | Tianjin, China |
| Latin New Car Assessment Programme | Latin NCAP | 2010 | Montevideo, Uruguay |
| New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asia | ASEAN NCAP | 2011 | Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia |
| Global New Car Assessment Programme | Global NCAP | 2011 | London, Great Britain |
| Taiwan New Car Assessment Program | TNCAP | 2018, Ratings from 2023 | Changhua, Taiwan |
| Green NCAP (operated by Euro NCAP for emissions) | Green NCAP | 2019 | Leuven, Belgium |
| Bharat New Car Assessment Program | Bharat NCAP | 2023 | Pune, India |
Crash tests are conducted under rigorous scientific and safety standards. Each crash test is very expensive so the maximum amount of data must be extracted from each test. Usually, this requires the use of high-speed data-acquisition, at least one triaxial accelerometer and a crash test dummy, but often includes more.
Some organizations that conduct crash tests include Calspan, an independent test laboratory in Buffalo, NY. As a result of the capabilities and expertise at Calspan, Calspan has been awarded 5 year contracts by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to execute for the NHTSA FMVSS No. 214, Side Impact Protection Compliance Testing, FMVSS No. 301 Fuel System Integrity, and FMVSS No. 305 Electric Powered Vehicles: Electrolyte Spillage and Electrical Shock Protection vehicle crash tests. Calspan also holds the NHTSA contracts for executing New Car Assessment Program crash tests.
Also, Monash University department of Civil Engineering, routinely conducts crash tests for the purposes of roadside barrier safety and design.
There are a number of crash test programs around the world dedicated to providing consumers with a source of comparitative information in relation to the safety performance of new and used vehicles. Examples of new car crash test programs include National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's NCAP, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Australasian New Car Assessment Program, EuroNCAP and JapNCAP. Programs such as the Used Car Safety Ratings provide consumers information on the safety performance of vehicles based on real world crash data.
In 2020, EuroNCAP introduces a mobile progressive deformable barrier (MPDB) test first experimented on the Toyota Yaris. [5]
A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduces the likelihood of death or serious injury in a traffic collision by reducing the force of secondary impacts with interior strike hazards, by keeping occupants positioned correctly for maximum effectiveness of the airbag, and by preventing occupants being ejected from the vehicle in a crash or if the vehicle rolls over.
An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of an airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. The purpose of the airbag is to provide a vehicle occupant with soft cushioning and restraint during a collision. It can reduce injuries between the flailing occupant and the interior of the vehicle.
A crash test dummy, or simply dummy, is a full-scale anthropomorphic test device (ATD) that simulates the dimensions, weight proportions and articulation of the human body during a traffic collision. Dummies are used by researchers, automobile and aircraft manufacturers to predict the injuries a person might sustain in a crash. Modern dummies are usually instrumented to record data such as velocity of impact, crushing force, bending, folding, or torque of the body, and deceleration rates during a collision.
Crumple zones, crush zones, or crash zones are a structural safety feature used in vehicles, mainly in automobiles, to increase the time over which a change in velocity occurs from the impact during a collision by a controlled deformation; in recent years, it is also incorporated into trains and railcars.
Automotive safety is the study and practice of automotive design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions involving motor vehicles. Road traffic safety more broadly includes roadway design.
A bumper is a structure attached to or integrated with the front and rear ends of a motor vehicle, to absorb impact in a minor collision, ideally minimizing repair costs. Stiff metal bumpers appeared on automobiles as early as 1904 that had a mainly ornamental function. Numerous developments, improvements in materials and technologies, as well as greater focus on functionality for protecting vehicle components and improving safety have changed bumpers over the years. Bumpers ideally minimize height mismatches between vehicles and protect pedestrians from injury. Regulatory measures have been enacted to reduce vehicle repair costs and, more recently, impact on pedestrians.
The European New Car Assessment Programme is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme based in Leuven, Belgium. Formed in 1996, the first results were released in February 1997. It was originally started by the Transport Research Laboratory for the UK Department for Transport but later backed by several European governments, as well as by the European Union (EU). Their slogan is "For Safer Cars".
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on transportation safety in the United States.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute (IIHS-HLDI) is an American nonprofit organization. It was established in 1959, and it is noted for its safety reviews of vehicles in various simulated traffic situations, including the effectiveness of a vehicle's structural integrity and safety systems during a collision, in addition to examining improvement on such elements.
A side collision is a vehicle crash where the side of one or more vehicles is impacted. These crashes typically occur at intersections, in parking lots, and when two vehicles pass on a multi-lane roadway.
An automobile safety rating is a grade given by a testing organisation to a motor vehicle indicating the safety of occupants in the event of a motor vehicle crash, like with the New Car Assessment Program.
Informed for LIFE is a Connecticut non-profit organization that provides "a free, public service to guide consumers on the use of vehicle crash test and fatality data".
G-Con is Honda Motor Co.'s internal passive safety standard. G-Con is short for G-Force Control. The standards incorporated into G-Con are constantly updated to benchmark against many of the world's toughest crash safety regulations as well as against data collected from real-world accident cases. The objective of G-Con is to control the impact energy (G-force) of a collision and reduce injuries to the vehicle occupants.
The Latin New Car Assessment Programme is an automobile safety assessment programme for Latin America and the Caribbean. Founded in 2010, it offers independent information to consumers about the safety levels of new cars in the market. Latin NCAP tests are based in international renowned methodologies, with vehicles awarded a safety rating between 0 and 5 stars, indicating the protection the cars offer to adult and child occupants. The programme started as a joint initiative and in 2014 it was established as an association under a legal entity framework.
Pam-Crash is a software package from ESI Group used for crash simulation and the design of occupant safety systems, primarily in the automotive industry. The software enables automotive engineers to simulate the performance of a proposed vehicle design and evaluate the potential for injury to occupants in multiple crash scenarios.
A New Car Assessment Program is a government car safety program tasked with evaluating new automobile designs for performance against various safety threats.
The Bharat New Car Assessment Program, usually known as the Bharat NCAP, is a upcoming New Car Assessment Program for India. Cars sold in the country will be assigned by star ratings based on their safety performance. It will be implemented in phases, according to the plans being drawn up by the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project. It is the 10th NCAP in the world and is being set up by the government of India.
specialises in vehicle crashworthiness with a background in accident and injury investigation/analysis.
ARCAP is an automobile safety assessment program founded by the Russian car magazine Autoreview. It was Russia's first independent rating for the passive safety of a car, presenting itself as the local edition of the Euro NCAP program. It also provides exclusive test results on some models not marketed in Europe or North America, such as AvtoVAZ vehicles.
The GlobalNew Car Assessment Programme is a project of the Towards Zero Foundation, a UK-registered charity. The programme aims to promote the sale of safer cars in developing markets by empowering consumers with objective information about the safety of vehicles. Global NCAP supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the target to halve road deaths and injuries by 2030, and the full implementation of the Global Plan for the UN's Decade of Action for Road Safety especially the recommended activities for vehicles.
