The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) provides independent and consistent information about how well new car models protect their occupants in serious front and side crashes.
ANCAP crash tests new cars, awards them a comparative star rating and publicises the results to inform consumers of the relative safety performance of new cars on the Australian market. ANCAP's stakeholders include Australian and New Zealand motoring clubs, Australian state governments, the New Zealand government, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission, the NRMA Insurance and the FIA Foundation.
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ANCAP buys cars that are available to consumers for the test program. Car manufacturers can examine the test cars before and after tests, and view the tests and results.
Crash tests simulate two of the most frequently occurring collision types - a frontal offset and a side impact test. Both tests are undertaken on each car model tested. In the frontal offset test, 40% of the front of the car on the driver's side strikes a crushable aluminium barrier at 64 km/h. In the side impact test, a 950 kilogram trolley with a crushable aluminium face strikes the driver's side of the car at 50 km/h.
Manufacturers whose cars have head-protecting side airbags and perform well in the side impact test can choose to have a ‘pole test' conducted. This test simulates hitting a tree or power pole, side on, at 29km/h. This optional test can earn an additional 2 safety points toward the overall safety rating of the car.
How are the tests scored?
ANCAP scores out of a possible 37 points.
- The frontal offset and side impact tests can earn up to 16 points each
- At least 12.5 points in each of the frontal offset and side impact tests must be achieved to earn a 5 star rating
- The pole test can earn an extra two points
- Intelligent seat belt reminders can also earn up to 3 bonus points to help improve a star rating
- At least 32.5 points must be achieved overall (with at least one point scored from the pole test) to earn a 5 star safety rating
- From 2008, cars must be equipped with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) to earn a 5 star rating
- Until the end of 2002 all cars were scored out of 34 points. No points were allocated for a seat belt warning system
International Crash Testing for consumer information is also conducted in the USA, Japan, Korea and Europe.
Pedestrian Protection
ANCAP also provides a separate rating for each car that indicates how well it protects pedestrians in the event of a crash. The test simulates a crash in which a pedestrian is hit by an oncoming car.
The pedestrian impact test is used to estimate head and leg injuries to pedestrians struck by a test vehicle at 40km/h. These crashes represent about 15% of fatal crashes in Australia and New Zealand.
Euro NCAP Testing
European NCAP (Euro NCAP) testing procedures are substantially the same as ANCAP testing procedures. However the Euro NCAP results are to be used as a guide only, as the structure and equipment of the European specification model may differ materially from that of the Australian or New Zealand car of the same name. Also, if different safety equipment is fitted, the Australian or New Zealand car of the same name is likely to provide different levels of protection to those noted.