What is an NCAP Score and How Should it Affect Your Car Purchase?

Before 1997, when the Euro NCAP safety ratings were developed, customers had to put their trust in the reputation and claims of manufacturers. While sometimes this worked out, it wasn’t always the best method for ensuring you purchased a safe car. The Euro NCAP solved this by purchasing cars from different manufacturers anonymously and conducting tests on each of them to determine their level of safety. It’s been almost 20 years now since the company first began, and now almost every new car sold in Europe is tested this way.

What is the Euro NCAP?

The European NCAP, or New Car Assessment Programme, is a voluntary safety rating programme that evaluates cars in four major areas: child occupant protection, adult occupant protection, safety equipment levels, and pedestrian protection.

Each car is tested in these four areas, then the results are combined to provide an overall rating for the car out of five.

Five different tests are needed to evaluate these sections and provide that end result:

• Front Impact Test- This test simulates a head-on collision to determine the damage caused to passengers and any car parts. In order to get a good rating, the free space around the legs and position of the airbags is crucial.

• Car to Car Side Impact- This test evaluates how well a driver or passenger would be protected if their car was hit at the T-junction when one car is stationary.

• Pole Side Impact- One-fourth of all serious accidents occur with side collisions with objects like trees or posts. This test evaluates the protection of the side air bags when the test car is launched sideways into a fixed pole. This will help determine what type of injuries passengers could suffer and what car parts will be damaged in the accident.

• Child and Pedestrians- Tests for child and pedestrian safety are conducted separately from other tests. Scores for child safety are given on how well the seats protect the child and how well the car accommodates the restraints of the child seat. Pedestrian dummies are tested repeatedly against different areas of the bonnet to assess how safe a pedestrian would be if the car hit them.

• Safety Assist- Newer car models are often equipped with safety assist devices and car parts like electronic stability control, seat belt reminders, and speed limitation devices. These are all tested by the Euro NCAP and can increase a car’s score if they come standard.

Should an NCAP Score Affect Your Car Purchase?

In short, yes. Let’s pretend for a moment that you’re thinking of purchasing a Land Rover. There are several models to choose from, and most are roomy enough to support your family, friends, and plenty of luggage. It may have everything you could want in a car, except a perfect safety rating.

If the safety rating was three stars, would you still buy it, knowing that the highest start rating from NCAP is five stars?

Like most drivers, the thought of purchasing a car with this low of a rating probably wouldn’t appeal to you. It’s simply asking for trouble. If you were in an accident, you’d be much more likely to become injured, your family could be hurt, and you’d have the additional expense of replacing more Land Rover parts than you should have, simply because the car wasn’t built to withstand the impact of an accident.

That being said, don’t panic if the car of your dreams has a low rating. Consider first the type of car you want to purchase. Big SUVs from Land Rover are much more likely to have lower ratings simply because they are big and tend to go wherever they want to, regardless of who is in the way, while smaller roadsters get higher ratings because it’s much more difficult to evaluate pedestrian safety and impact.

When purchasing any type of car, be careful to evaluate the Euro NCAP score so you can determine if the car will be safe for your family. Keep in mind though, that it only takes one low score to bring down the overall result. Dig deep and determine what the problem could be before you dismiss the car completely.