NCAP to test whiplash protection and ESP

Validation of electronic stability control (often referred to by the acronyms ESP or ESC) and anti-whiplash head restraints will soon be part of the Euro NCAP crash test program, according to UK's Car Online.

The Car Online report suggests NCAP testers are keen to broaden its scope of evaluation beyond the crash tests conducted at present.

"We are always looking for the next area to investigate," an NCAP insider told CAR Online. "We hope to get a whiplash rating out soon, and expand into primary safety by examining stability control systems."

The Euro testing protocol is mirrored by Australia's ANCAP, which subjects vehicles to an offset crash test into a barrier, a side-impact test and a pedestrian-impact test. A pole test is optional. (See fact box below)

If the new tests being proposed by EuroNCAP (ie to rate ESP and whiplash protection) are established as part of the evaluation procedure, it would add to the NCAP ratings' real-world relevance.

Rear-end shunts that cause whiplash are a common occurrence, and injuries can be reduced via active head restraints that move forward within milliseconds of an impact, reducing the forces on occupants' necks.

With NCAP broadening its scope, manufacturers will be under pressure to make active head restraints and ESP standard, argues Car Online. Locally, Holden has already set a precedent by making ESP standard across its VE Commodore line-up.

Be that as it may, it could be a while before the stability-control technology can be benchmarked by NCAP testing. Unlike the crash tests, which are conducted in labs using machines, the ESP tests would need to be carried out by humans (albeit aided by an armoury of diagnostic equipment).

"One of the problems we have is creating a predictable and repeatable test (for ESP)," a source told Car Online. "We need a test that will create comparable results between a car we test today and one we test in six months' time."

ANCAP crash tests -- what do they comprise?

* The offset frontal crash test simulates colliding with another vehicle. In this test, 40 per cent of the car, on the driver's side, initially makes contact with a crushable aluminium barrier at 64km/h.

* The side impact test consists of running a 950kg trolley into the driver's side of the test vehicle at 50km/h. The trolley has a crushable aluminium face to simulate the front of another vehicle.

* ANCAP says the vehicles purchased for the test program are typical of those vehicles available to new car purchasers, giving the exercise real-world credibility.

* A pole test is an optional extra test, available at the manufacturer's cost, if the vehicle performs very well in the side impact test and is fitted with head protecting side airbags. The vehicle impacts a steel pole lined up with the driver's head, at 29km/h sideways.

* The pedestrian impact test estimates injuries to pedestrians struck by a vehicle travelling at 40km/h.