Vehicle safety has become an increasingly important consideration for motorists. Is sufficient vehicle safety information easily available for buyers to make informed purchasing decisions?
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With another festive season of carnage on SA roads behind us, it’s little surprise that many car buyers are increasingly factoring in vehicle safety when making purchase decisions. The knowledge that all vehicles sold in SA need to conform to regulations controlled by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS), provides buyers with a level of assurance that minimum safety standards have been met. However, the buying public has no way of comparing how well vehicles perform in these tests. While the safety features can be compared by manually checking specifications, or using comparison tools on consumer websites, this doesn’t provide any details regarding how different vehicles perform in crash situations.
New Car Assessment Programs (NCAPs)
This situation in SA is no different from that existing in other markets, and it was the need for reliable, independently verified information regarding the safety performance of different vehicles, that led to the establishment of the first NCAP in the US in 1979. Launched by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) it provided the first official crash test ratings to the public, helping raise awareness about vehicle safety and enabling buyers to make informed purchasing decisions. This initiative was later followed by Euro NCAP, Global NCAP and similar NCAP programmes in Australasia, the ASEAN countries, China, Korea, Japan, India and Latin America.
Unlike their national vehicle regulations, none of these NCAPs are legislative requirements in their respective countries, but rather a voluntary vehicle safety rating system. NCAP reports and ratings are extensively covered in the media, resulting in high levels of cooperation with NCAP by manufacturers wishing to ensure their vehicles will achieve the required ratings. In some countries, particularly those with lower-level safety standards, it has also resulted in NCAPs influencing the evolution of national safety laws and regulations.
Unfortunately, while similar and all carrying the NCAP name, the various NCAP test standards and protocols are not identical, which can create misunderstanding and even lead to intentional misrepresentation of ratings. Reasons for differences include applicable local regulatory standards, local safety priorities, and the level of development of each local motor industry. Euro NCAP has been developed over 25 years in mature, sophisticated, high-income markets and is regarded as the NCAP benchmark. Matching European safety levels in a lower-income, emerging market which demands basic, low-priced cars, is simply not realistic.
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Global NCAP, a major project of the Towards Zero Foundation, is not country-specific and serves as the platform for cooperation across the different national programs. Aligned with Euro NCAP, its focus is on supporting developing market NCAP and other safety programs, working with local authorities and vehicle manufacturers to adopt better safety standards while also pushing for stronger safety regulations. Several national NCAPs have made significant efforts to align with Euro NCAP, particularly in their testing methodologies, rating systems, and emphasis on active safety technologies. The Australasian program, ANCAP is regarded as being very closely aligned as is the JNCAP (Japan) with some regional adaptions, while the C-NCAP (China) and Latin NCAP (South America) are also highly aligned with some local market-specific adjustments.
Compared to the compulsory national regulations which focus on the performance and function of vehicle components and systems, the focus of NCAP testing has always been on crashworthiness – how well a vehicle protects its adult and child occupants in various types of collision. Euro NCAP has expanded this to include vulnerable road users – pedestrians and cyclists – as well as the fitment of advanced safety assist systems like Autonomous Emergency Braking systems (AEB) and lane support systems which contribute to collision avoidance. Ease of extrication by first responders after an accident, and the effectiveness of the system which automatically alerts emergency services in event of an accident, are also evaluated. The safety rating is calculated by evaluating the “injuries” sustained by crash test dummies in a series of crash tests as well as the performance of the advanced safety systems. To simplify ratings and assist consumers to compare vehicles, the percentage scores for Adult Occupant, Child Occupant, Vulnerable Road Users and Safety Assist are scored individually and consolidated into an overall rating of up to five stars.
In developing markets, the Global NCAP testing may typically be more limited, focussing on front and side impact protection as well as side pole impact protection for adult and child occupants, pedestrian protection, and the fitment of electronic stability control (ESC).
Evaluating different NCAP ratings
Despite using a similar 5-star rating system, scores from different NCAPs should not be compared due to the differences in test procedures as already explained. Complicating this even further are differences in the specifications of otherwise similar vehicles for different markets, which can affect their safety ratings. The reasons for these differences might be local regulations, market preferences or cost saving, while they can range from variations in body structure to the more obvious fitment of safety features and advanced safety systems. A practical example of this can occur where a vehicle which has obtained a certain rating in its country of origin according to the local NCAP procedure, is also exported to other countries. That rating will not be applicable to the exported vehicle unless its specifications in all areas which might affect any of the test results, are identical. To ensure transparency and avoid misinterpretation, any claim published outside the country of origin should include a confirmation that the specification offered is identical, or at least a disclaimer clarifying the version or specification tested and to which the rating applies.
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An additional consideration when evaluating ratings is the fact that the specifications of vehicles are frequently revised during their lifecycles, as manufacturers keep them fresh and competitive against changing competition. In many cases the changes might result in an improved NCAP score; conversely, buyers of used cars need to be aware that a current rating might not apply to an older vehicle. Complicating matters further, the exact opposite also sometimes applies. To keep pace with new technological innovations, the NCAP test protocols also evolve, with existing tests being revised and new requirements being added. This means that a vehicle which achieves a certain rating at the time of its introduction, could see that rating drop if retested in the latter stages of its lifecycle if it has not been updated to keep up with evolving safety standards. It must be noted that a reduced rating in these circumstances does not mean that the vehicle is less safe than before but rather that its safety level has fallen behind the latest standard.
Safety ratings in SA
The SA compulsory vehicle specifications are generally aligned with European equivalents but are implemented in a time frame deemed appropriate to South African requirements. They cover a broad range of components and systems, many of which are safety-critical, and include lights, glass, mirrors, child restraints, seat belts & anchorages, brake system and frontal impact characteristics – which includes rearward movement of steering controls.
While SA does not have its own NCAP, in 2017 Global NCAP in conjunction with the Automobile Association of South Africa (AA), launched the “Safer Cars for Africa” project with the objective of promoting safer cars across Africa. Some early test results were a cause of serious concern with some vehicles achieving zero stars. Those vehicles have since been discontinued, and some more recent highlights have included a 5 star adult occupant rating for the Mahindra XUV300, while VW are to be commended for recently uprating the extended-life Polo Vivo, improving its rating from 2 to 4 stars.
The Global NCAP / AA initiative should be applauded as a step in the right direction but with relatively few vehicles tested to date, the reality remains – the broader lack of independently verified, comparable safety ratings means that safety-minded SA motorists are forced to select vehicles based on brand reputation and overseas NCAP ratings which may not be applicable. In the case of imported, low-volume, more expensive vehicles there is high likelihood that the overseas NCAP rating would apply to the vehicle sold in SA as, for reasons of production complexity, the manufacturer looks to limit unique specifications. More concerning is the case of lower-priced imported vehicles, where the economically driven market buy-down has led to significant volume increases. In segments where manufacturing cost is critical for market competitiveness and margins are tight, there is a far greater likelihood that the specification being built for SA might differ in key areas from the specification tested in its home market, rendering that NCAP rating not applicable. While building vehicles to a price demanded by the market concerned is understandable, the real issue is that in neither case is that information freely available to the SA buyer to assist in making an informed buying decision.
Addressing this issue will require the support and inputs of road safety organisations, national regulators, vehicle manufacturers and importers, and Global NCAP. Safety features carry a cost as does NCAP testing and while local economic realities need to be recognised, with a road death toll equivalent to approximately 20 deaths per 100 000 of the population compared to 4,6 in Europe, concerned motorists deserve to be able to make an informed choice and select the safest vehicle they can afford.
Find the full feature in the March 2025 issue of CAR Magazine.
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