ANCAP delays safety updates

COVID-19’s impact on the global auto industry has prompted independent vehicle safety authorities ANCAP and Euro NCAP to delay the next step up in safety standards for 12 months.

That means the protocols introduced by the two organisations in tandem on January 1, 2020 will now stay in place until January 1, 2023, rather than January 1, 2022 as originally scheduled.

The decision also means protocols originally scheduled for introduction on January 1, 2024 will now not happen until January 1, 2025.

In a recent communique, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) revealed that “restrictions imposed on interstate and international travel, the need for test laboratory and vehicle brand staff to work remotely, and temporary closures to test laboratories and production plants have all meant ‘business-as-usual’ operations have not been possible”.

“As a result, ANCAP has developed and implemented a test and rating contingency plan to minimise the above effects and allow the rating of vehicles to continue without considerable delay,” it said.

Traditionally, ANCAP has focused on crash testing results to deliver a rating from one to five stars, but in recent years there has been an increasing focus on active and passive safety upgrades as well.

ANCAP aligned its protocols with Euro NCAP from 2018 and began testing active safety features such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB) the same year.

Tested vehicles are awarded a minimum one star up to a maximum five stars depending on their performance across four categories: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection and Safety Assist. The lowest category score dictates the overall rating.

ANCAP only began testing to the 2020 protocols in September because of delays caused by the pandemic.

Key changes introduced for 2020 include a moving barrier for the frontal crash test and a far-side impact test that encouraged the fitment of centre airbags. ANCAP also started testing AEB in junction and reversing scenarios.

We previewed the 2020 changes and the reasons for them here.

The new ANCAP protocols scheduled for 2022 that will now be delayed by a year include:

• Child presence detection: Encouraging fitment and assessing alert functionality.
• AEB head-on: Effectiveness testing of crash avoidance or mitigation in head-on scenarios.
• Powered two-wheeler impact prevention: Assessing a vehicle’s ability to avoid a crash with a motorcycle through lane support systems and AEB.

There were also a series of updates that were scheduled for 2022 that will now also be delayed by one year:

• Vulnerable road user (pedestrian and cyclist) safety: Introduction of a more advanced pedestrian leg-form impactor with upper body mass plus additional cyclist head impact points tested.
• Driver monitoring: Rewarding direct monitoring of driver (camera facing driver), as opposed to indirect monitoring (driver steering, acceleration, braking inputs).
• AEB junction and crossing: Additional stringency and test scenarios.
• Automatic emergency steering: May introduce additional requirements for vehicle-initiated steering and braking intervention if legally allowed at that time.

New and updated protocols for 2025-26 have yet to be determined.

The delay in ANCAP roll-out will likely be greeted with some relief by manufacturers who have had to steadily ramp up the level of safety equipment in their vehicles to meet the all-important five-star rating.

The resulting rise in pricing has been obvious in the small car market where the popular Toyota Corolla offers a package of advanced safety equipment, but now has a $23,895 starting price plus on-road costs.

Hyundai is one brand that has clearly battled with the rising equipment demands, opting for a four-star result for the Venue small SUV rather than fit the full suite of driver assist technology.

Former Hyundai Australia chief operating officer Scott Grant suggested in late 2018 that the company might abandon ANCAP, but this remains unlikely – from Hyundai or any other major car-maker – as the independent ratings have become a vital part of the car buying process among private consumers and fleet purchasers alike.