Latest Euro NCAP Results

This Wednesday leading European crash-test agency Euro NCAP has unveiled the results for six new cars. Mazda's all-new Mazda2 is the latest of all superminis to be awarded the Euro NCAP five star safety rating. Earlier this year the Mini and the Fiat 500 were awarded five stars. The brand-new Mercedes C-class, the Volvo V70 and the Renault Laguna were among the three other cars to be awarded the maximum five points in adult protection. The Honda Civic and the Daihatsu Materia, which recently featured in Top Gear in a side-by-side comparison with the Ascari A10, both scored four stars in the latest Euro NCAP crash test.

Despite the magnificent results achieved in adult protection, there is clearly a lot of room for improvement in the pedestrian safety. Euro NCAP expressed its disappointment with "none of the cars achieving higher than three stars (of max. five) for pedestrian protection."

Furthermore, both the Mazda2 and the Volvo V70 endured problems with the deployment of the cars' airbags, where minor disturbances "could occur in real life accidents." Euro NCAP insists that both manufacturers have taken the steps to rectify the problems and that all owners have been contacted for the necessary upgrades. While such disturbances are not part of the crash test, Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General of Euro NCAP is keen to add that "this is exactly why Euro NCAP exists: to independently evaluate the protection that these cars offer consumers and to spot just this kind of error. If there is a safety problem, we will not re-test the vehicle unless the problem is fixed on all cars."
Now that five stars is becoming the industry standard... about time to extend the scale?