Testing Times: The Consumer Testing Carried Out by the Various New Car Assessment Programs (NCAPs) Is Increasing Demand for Safety Technologies, but Global NCAP’s Secretary General, David Ward, Says This Must Go Hand in Hand with Regulatory Change

This article features an interview with David Ward, secretary general of Global NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) who discusses the use of crash test data to encourage consumer demand for safety as well as to support regulatory and legislative change. Ward reminds readers that the NCAP movement grew out of the consumer-oriented focus on vehicle safety pioneered by Ralph Nader in the 1960s. Global NCAP was created in 2011 as a nonprofit agency registered in the U.K. and designed as a strategy to foster cooperation among the national and regional NCAPs. Ward shares his wish list of advanced driver assistance system technologies, notably electronic stability control (ESC) and automatic emergency braking (AEB). Readers are referred to the March 2015 Global NCAP document called “Democratising Car Safety,” which outlines universal standards for basic vehicle safety, including front and side impact crashworthiness, front and rear seatbelts, airbags, ESC, seatbelt reminders, and softer car fronts for pedestrian protection.