Consumer Ratings and Their Role in Improving Vehicle Safety

Abstract Safety ratings for cars, published by New Car Assessment Programmes (NCAPs) around the world, have mobilized consumers and enabled them to make a more intelligent, better-informed buying decision based on a car’s crash test performance. Consumer ratings involve comprehensive, objective, and realistic crash testing of cars, and the application of best-practice, consumer-oriented criteria and thresholds to promote safety enhancements beyond the legal requirements. Over time, the New Car Assessment Programmes have tailored their crash tests to focus on real-world priorities in the protection of car occupants and vulnerable road users. They have also successfully incorporated the assessment of new crash avoidance technologies, such as autonomous braking systems, in the ratings. All of this has made NCAP a driving force behind many improvements in the safety of vehicles throughout the world and a key instrument in reaching vision zero.