The first Euro NCAP truck testing results are in, under the body’s new Truck Safe program, with Volvo’s FH Aero and FM models receiving a full five-star score, while Iveco’s S-Way managed just one star.
While passenger cars, and more recently vans, have been held to account by governing bodies like ANCAP in Australia and NCAP in Europe, trucks have managed to avoid the scrutiny until now.
The first NCAP heavy vehicle testing assessed models across three key areas; safe driving, collision avoidance and post-crash safety. Testing also evaluated trucks for a City Safe accreditation that favours technology aimed at reducing inner-city risks.
While Australian-delivered models do often vary from European examples, the results provide an interesting snapshot into the varying levels of safety offered between major truck manufacturers and models.
While Volvo and Scania scored well, DAF achieved a moderate three-star result for its XF model, and MAN’s TGX also achieved three stars but was not deemed City Safe.
While the Mercedes-Benz Actros L is an undeniably high-tech truck, it also achieved a three-star score and also failed to achieve City Safe status. Renault Truck’s T model achieved an impressive four stars, but was not deemed City Safe, either.
Speaking about the FM and FH Aero five-star scores, with both also given the City Safe tick of approval, Volvo Trucks President Roger Alm said the results confirm the brand’s spot as a safety leader.
“This outstanding result makes me so proud as it confirms Volvo Trucks’ leading position in safety”, he said.
“Safety is a core value for us and a cornerstone in our heritage. Safety has been guiding us from the very start of our company – and with every new product launch we are making our trucks even safer.”
Recently, ANCAP has also turned its attention to trucks, committing to expanding testing protocols to include a broader range of commercial vehicles.
Euro NCAP in a nutshell
The European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP), based in Belgium, was first established in 1996 and quickly became the European industry standard for assessing the safety of passenger cars. It is supported by multiple European governments, including the European Union.
As for the truck test, each safety system was given a score, which was aggregated for each area. These scores were then used to calculate a star rating of one to five stars for the whole vehicle.
The scope of the truck test was as follows:
- Safe driving: Occupant monitoring, vision (both direct and indirect) and vehicle assistance (e.g. speed assistance)
- Collision avoidance: Frontal collisions (car, pedestrian and cyclist), low speed manoeuvring collisions and lane departure collisions
- Post-crash: Rescue information.
Euro NCAP’s aim is to gradually expand the test scope to also include crash protection at a later stage, as well as testing trucks in different transport segments.
