This launch comes in direct response to data showing that although trucks represent only 3% of vehicles on Europe’s roads, they are involved in almost 15% of all road deaths in the EU.
Euro NCAP’s future rating system is designed to move beyond existing EU truck safety regulations faster, while stimulating innovation and balancing the commercial needs of operators across Europe.
The Euro NCAP rating will ensure that trucks are better equipped with life-saving technologies, particularly in relation to collision avoidance, visibility and post-collision rescue aspects.
Dr Michel van Ratingen, Secretary General of Euro NCAP, said: “Over the past 12 months, we have worked closely with vehicle manufacturers to develop the tests, consulting with various stakeholders across Europe including distributors, transport companies, insurers, city authorities and regulators. . and strategic road organizations to fully understand the complexities of making trucks and roads safer.
“The future Truck Safe rating will incentivize good safety performance in both cities and highways and allow for improved operational safety and cost. New regulatory requirements have forced manufacturers to increase safety performance. However, our goal is to advance best practices in all types of vehicle safety, Rather than just meeting minimum standards, a goal we have successfully achieved with passenger cars.
Matthew Avery, Director of Strategy Development at Euro NCAP, added: “Accidents between lorries and vulnerable road users (VRUs) currently account for 25% of all deaths in the EU; pedestrians and cyclists account for more than a quarter of them.
“Truck accidents vary greatly depending on the type of road environment (city or highway) as well as the collision partner (passenger vehicle or VRU). The new tests will simulate real-world collisions and encourage manufacturers to fit crash-avoidance technologies and improve driver visibility. In the future, Euro NCAP will expand the program to include crash protection as well.
The approach taken by Euro NCAP is designed to highlight technologies that are cost-effective, provide safety and allow operators to choose the safest vehicle for a given role.
“Road transportation plays an essential and vital role in our economies,” Avery said. “Safer roads are key to achieving this, but they are complex. There is no single solution. It is about taking a comprehensive approach to making trucks and roads safer: from driver behavior and monitoring, to infrastructure.” For roads, adopting assistive driving technologies currently available in cars, and looking at the structure of trucks and how they perform in accidents.
“The sooner we realize that safety technologies in trucks lag behind those in cars, the faster we can reduce the number of fatal truck accidents.”
