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ANCAP Star ANCAP - Crash testing for safety
Vehicle Safety News and Updates.
Edition 4, September 2012
Hi

Welcome to the next edition of the ANCAPStar – a round-up of the latest news and updates from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).

ANCAP provides consumers with independent and transparent advice and information on the level of occupant and pedestrian protection provided by vehicles in the most common types of crashes. Our member organisations include the Australian and New Zealand automobile clubs, Australian Federal, State and Territory Governments, the New Zealand Government, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission, NRMA Insurance and the FIA Foundation (UK).

Meet all of our member organisations.
Latest Media Releases.

30 August 2012
Australasia's Next Electric Car Achieves Top Safety Rating
ANCAP today announced ANCAP safety ratings for a range of small to medium vehicles including Australasia's next electric-powered car - the Holden Volt.

15 August 2012
Continuous Development in Crash Testing
ANCAP today gave its support for the continuous development of crash testing following the release of findings of a new small overlap frontal crash test by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) in the United States.

ANCAP Chairman, Mr Lauchlan McIntosh was interviewed on Weekend Sunrise (19 August) in relation to the small overlap test. To view the interview, click here.

18 July 2012
Autonomous Emergency Braking Can Slash the Road Toll
ANCAP today welcomed reports from Europe and the United States of America identifying the safety assist technology (SAT) Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) as a potential life-saver.

13 July 2012
Stellar Safety for New Colorado, i30 and BRZ
ANCAP today congratulated the stellar achievements of the Holden Colorado, Hyundai i30 and Subaru BRZ - each achieving the maximum 5 star ANCAP safety rating in the most recent round of crash testing.
Chairman's Update.

Some of you will have helped to "expand the reach" at this year's Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS) National Conference held in Sydney on 9-10 August and I trust you found the topics covered of relevance. In addition to my role as ANCAP Chairman, I too sit at the helm as President of the College and we were honoured to have our College Patron, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia officially open the conference and show her interest and support for the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. You can watch the Governor-General's opening address here.

Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Transport, The Hon. Catherine King MP was also in attendance, addressing the 200+ delegates on the importance of a common-goal approach to road safety in Australia through the Safe System pillars. Ms King remarked that while improving the safety of vehicles through changes to national standards, the Australian Government had also turned its efforts to complementary safety measures including becoming a member of ANCAP in 2010, and from 1 July last year, requiring all of its fleet passenger vehicles to hold the maximum 5 star ANCAP safety rating. Ms King reiterated ANCAP's position on the significance of this decision saying "in around two years, these fleet vehicles [will] enter the second-hand market. If all fleet operators took up the ANCAP rating we would see a dramatic shift in the number of 5 star rated cars available to younger drivers."

I provided the conference delegates with an update on the College's progress in the first year of the Decade of Action including requesting a Productivity Commission Inquiry into national impacts of road trauma to demonstrate economy wide affects. You can read my update here.

Road safety is a collaborative effort and I encourage you all to assist with road safety initiatives in your local communities.

Lauchlan McIntosh AM
ANCAP Chairman
ANCAP's Newest Member.

The Northern Territory has reinforced its commitment to reducing the road toll through the promotion of safer vehicles, joining as a Contributing Member of ANCAP from July 2012. The Northern Territory Government, through its Department of Lands and Planning, becomes the 22nd member of ANCAP joining the other Australian state governments, the Australian and New Zealand Governments and automobile clubs, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission, NRMA Insurance and the FIA Foundation.

49 lives were lost on NT roads during the 12 months ending July 2012.

ANCAP welcomes the support of the Northern Territory Government and looks forward to working with its newest member on progressing vehicle safety initiatives across the Territory.
The Decade of Cars.

Around 370 car occupants were killed in road crashes in Sweden in 2001. Last year, in 2011, that figure reduced to 170, equating to more than a 50% reduction. The reasons behind this remarkable reduction are well known. The mid-separation of roads, speed cameras, and more random breath tests have all been very effective, but a substantial part of the reduction can be attributed to the gradual replacement of the older car population. The cars sold between 2002 and 2011 are dramatically better than those built in the1980s and early 1990s. In fact, the risk of the driver being killed in one of these newer vehicles - especially those sold after 2005 - is a third of the risk in the cars that are being replaced. It's therefore no surprise that the numbers of fatalities are declining, although it’s frustrating that we’ve had to wait so long for the older fleet to be faded out.

A recently published Swedish study looked at whether or not these fatalities could be reduced by 50% once more over the next decade, up to 2020. Fatal crashes from 2010 were analysed and the cars involved were replaced by models that were 10 years younger - i.e. if the car involved was MY2002, it was replaced with a similar MY2012 car, the technology and crash performance of which is well known. And for those cars involved in 2010 crashes that were made after 2006, the researchers made assumptions about the technologies that could be integrated, as the Euro NCAP road map is well established.

The results are simply astounding. Even based on conservative forecasts, there is no doubt that the number of car occupants killed will more than halve again. And if we factor in more enforcement, it could reduce by two thirds by 2020. And this will continue...

The majority of these reductions will also be down to the ongoing upgrading of the vehicle fleet, hence why I refer to 'the decade of cars' - an era of cars utilising the technologies that we're just starting to see materialise now. It all looks promising, but there are a few things we need to bear in mind. First, the forecast does not look equally bright for vulnerable road users, such as motorcyclists and cyclists. These vehicles do not rely so much on technological development. Second, the positive results will not happen automatically. The forecast in Sweden for 2020 relies heavily on the technology developments and market penetration from the 2000-2010 period. Hence why Euro NCAP, market behaviour and political involvement will all be vital. So far, very few - if any - nations have a vehicle policy that stimulates safe and innovative vehicles.

Something else an advance forecast suggests is that the future appears very different from today - and even more so from the past. All of those people using historical crash data be warned - it no longer reveals the truth about what should be on the planning horizon. On the contrary, with changes occurring so rapidly now, we have very little to learn from the past. While this might seem slightly sad or even overoptimistic, it is a reality. So if the number of people killed in cars in Sweden does drop from 370 to 50 in 20 years, although some problems will have been solved, others will remain. We can also be certain that the solutions to the final 50 before reaching zero will be completely different to those that helped to save the previous 320.


Claes Tingvall is director of Traffic Safety at the Swedish Transport Administration and adjunct professor at the Department of Applied Mechanics at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg.

Article by Claes Tingvall
Vision Zero International, June 2012


In response to this article, see ANCAP Chief Executive Officer's Letter to the Editor:

To the Editor:

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) wholeheartedly agrees with the points raised by Mr Claes Tingvall (The decade of cars, page 13, June 2012) that newer, safer cars will be the key drivers in reducing the road toll.

With new safety assist technology being developed at an exponential rate there is no doubt in my mind that many lives can and will be saved over the next decade and beyond. Electronic Stability Control, Emergency Brake Assist, Autonomous Emergency Braking, Collision Avoidance, Lane Departure Warning, Blind Spot Monitoring, Fatigue Monitoring, Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication - the list is almost endless. The key element that many of these new technologies have is that they remove the driver from the safety equation.

We all seem to think that we are fantastic drivers but in reality we are all at risk and from time to time we all do things that put us in the category of 'bad drivers'. Safety assist technology will save us from ourselves.

The biggest challenge for Governments around the world is to devise incentives to encourage consumers to update their cars quickly so that they can take advantage of the much improved safety of newer vehicles. The average age of a car in Australian & New Zealand is about 10-12 years old. Without some stimulus it will take many years before the entire population can reap the benefits of safer vehicles and sadly this means many unnecessary lives will be lost.

Yours faithfully,
Nicholas Clarke
Pedestrian Testing Explained.

Introduced in 2000, ANCAP pedestrian tests are designed to measure the risk of injury to pedestrians in a collision with the front of the vehicle. Many kinds of crash tests use instrumented dummies to measure injury risk, but for pedestrian safety tests, 'sub-system' impactors (head/legforms) representing different regions of the body are used. The different impactors represent the head of an adult, the head of a child, the upper leg of an adult and the knee/lower leg.

The headform tests are conducted in 12 different positions across the bonnet and at the base of the windscreen at a speed of 40 km/h. The results of the headform tests contribute most heavily to the overall assessment of the vehicle. The headform measures impact deceleration, and this is used to rate the severity of the impact.

The upper legform tests are conducted along the leading edge of the vehicle, around the forward-most area of a vehicle's bonnet. The upper legform measures the severity of the impact and the risk of fracture to an adult pedestrian's femur and pelvis.

The full legform tests are conducted along the front bumper of the vehicle, and measure the risk of ligament damage to the knee and the risk of fracturing the tibia and fibula. Knee injury is assessed by examining the kinematics of the 'knee joint' in the legform and tibia / fibula fracture risk by the impact deceleration of that part of the legform.

Individual test scores are summarised into one of three pedestrian ratings - Acceptable, Marginal or Fail. A vehicle is required to achieve a minimum pedestrian rating of Marginal to obtain the maximum 5 star ANCAP safety rating. This minimum rating requirement will increase to Acceptable in 2014.

All ANCAP pedestrian tests are conducted by the Centre for Automotive Safety Research's (CASR) Vehicle Testing Laboratory in Adelaide.
33,900

In 2010, 33,900 people were killed or seriously injured on roads in Australia. As part of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety, the group 33,900: The Australian Road Safety Collaboration was formed, of which ANCAP is a member within the Safer Vehicles pillar.

The 33,900 collaboration was established to facilitate greater industry collaboration and to further promote improved road safety outcomes across all sectors. The collaboration provides the links to unite and drive action across the Non-Government Organisation sector. The collaboration does not replace any of the roles undertaken by the individual organisation or members that it serves, and the focus is on the following functions:
  • Strengthen: the individual members of 33900 and the activities they do to maximise the individual and combined road trauma reductions achieved
  • Collaborate: within the Australian, regional and global road safety community, to share and disseminate information and support road safety activities
  • Create: greater awareness, public debate and demand for action to reduce road trauma
  • Advocate: for greater road safety action and political commitment including funding and legislative initiatives and accountability for targets that are (or should be) set.
  • Promote: the views of the collaboration and its members and specific initiatives essential for achieving the desired Decade of Action outcomes
  • Enhance: communication and action in the NGO Sector within Australia and as part of Australia's International response to the Decade of Action for Road Safety action
  • Advise: lead agencies responsible for road safety action and provide links to 33900 members who can provide independent advice to drive good practice road safety
For more information about 33,900, visit 33900.org.au.
Accept Nothing Less.

Featuring proudly as part of ANCAP's new range of Point of Sale (POS) materials, the new tag line "Accept nothing less" has been developed and will be used in conjunction with the 5 star ANCAP rating logo to reinforce to consumers the importance of choosing a vehicle which holds the maximum 5 star ANCAP safety rating.

The POS materials produced to date include a revision of the existing ANCAP car rating labels for use by dealers. These are to be adhered to the corner of a vehicles' windscreen identifying that model as holding the maximum 5 star ANCAP safety rating. The new car rating labels now feature an interactive QR code which consumers can scan with their Smartphone while on the showroom floor, directing them straight to ANCAP's mobile website where they can view the safety ratings of over 400 vehicles at the click of a button. Large-scale re-usable windscreen stickers have also been produced for the showroom promotion of 5 star rated vehicles.

Dealers from across Australia and New Zealand can request quantities of these POS items by emailing ancap@ancap.com.au.
Crash Laboratory Profile: Crashlab®.

Crashlab is a world class road safety research and test facility owned and operated by the New South Wales State Government through its Roads and Maritime Services agency. The Crashlab test laboratory was established in 1969 and was the first laboratory of its kind in Australia, providing accurate and impartial technical research for the development and implementation of road safety policy and safety product Standards.

In 1992, a vehicle crash barrier facility was built at the Rosebery site with the express purpose of evaluating the crashworthiness of locally available vehicles through the establishment of the then New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) in late 1992. Coming prior to the introduction of ADR 69/00 and Euro NCAP, the NCAP testing represented a game-changing approach to vehicle safety and was subject to intense vehicle manufacturer and media scrutiny, requiring robust test practices and procedures from the outset.

With ANCAP now in its 20th year of testing, Crashlab has conducted over 370 tests for the program, and over 1000 vehicle crash tests in total. Crashlab's support of ANCAP has included the capability development and implementation of the frontal offset test (world first program in 1993); the side impact test in 1998; and the side pole test in 2004.

In 2005, Crashlab relocated to its current, purpose-built site in Huntingwood, Western Sydney. The 5500m2 undercover site includes a 480m2 central crash hall, 180m of fully enclosed runway, a movable 110 Tonne crash reaction block and a one hectare outdoor area for testing road safety barriers and vehicle rollover protection.

Today, Crashlab maintains a comprehensive third party NATA accreditation over a broad range of more than 50 discrete test services for pedal and motorcycle helmets, infant and child restraints, car/bus/truck/ferry and aircraft seats, fall arrest devices, jockey vests, seat belts, wheelchair restraints, vehicle and roadside infrastructure crash tests. In addition to its world class facilities, Crashlab staff support ANCAP with a wealth of knowledge and experience (over 350 man years) in vehicle and road user safety product research and testing.
Visit ANCAP at the Sydney Motor Show.

ANCAP will participate for the first time as an exhibitor at the Australian International Motor Show to be held at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre from 18-28 October 2012. Occupying exhibition space within Hall 4, ANCAP will showcase the 5 star Hyundai i45 which underwent a frontal offset crash test in 2010 and provide show-goers and fellow exhibitors with information on the crash testing process, the technologies which make vehicles safer, and the importance of choosing a vehicle which has the maximum 5 star ANCAP safety rating. ANCAP's motto for the show is "Accept nothing less", and its staff will be encouraging consumers to look for the 5 star ANCAP safety rating when purchasing their next car.

ANCAP's presence at the Motor Show will be an interactive one, with a number of iPads available for the use of patrons to search the ANCAP website for the ANCAP safety rating of either their current or prospective vehicle model, as well as become familiar with the ANCAP website and the vast array of crash test information it features. The ANCAP exhibition will also feature plasma screens displaying actual crash test vision which will include the newly introduced whiplash test, as well as explanatory videos covering Safety Assist Technologies such as autonomous emergency braking, back over avoidance, lane departure warning and blind spot monitoring systems.

ANCAP looks forward to seeing you at the show.
They Don't Build 'em Like They Used To.

And thank goodness for that! We're not sure how the occupants of this early 1900s spec car would have fared after their collision with this tree. Not dissimilar from the ANCAP pole test really...

This is just one of the fascinating photos from the 1920s and 1930s showing the dramatic and most likely tragic side effect of the golden age of American motoring. Motor cars became affordable to the masses for the first time in the 1920s. By the end of the decade a Model T Ford cost around US$300, just a fraction of the US$1,200 it cost in 1909. The introduction of hire purchase also made it much easier for members of the public to buy cars, and by 1929, 20 per cent of Americans were on the road.

Ford, Chrysler and General Motors were all competing for the boom in business and by the time the depression hit in 1929, Ford was producing more than one car every minute. Technology meant these early cars were capable of achieving speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour - but safety measures were nowhere near as advanced as they are today.
Crash Test Provider Profile.

Tony Forster
Test Operations Manager
APV-T Tech Centre


Instrumental to the success of ANCAP testing, Tony Forster has been involved with crash testing for over 28 years both in Australia and the United Kingdom.

What does your role involve?
I spend most of my day enabling the test team to provide the highest quality service to our customers. This involves managing people, processes and resources to produce the best possible outcomes. I also spend a significant amount of time working with the team to develop all of our systems and processes. Having robust procedures and processes is essential, as any crash test provider can verify 'Getting it right first time' is not optional.

What do you like most about your role?
It is great to see the real application of engineering and physics on a day to day basis, but most of all, it is definitely good for the soul to be involved in a process where your ultimate goal is to save lives.

What is your most memorable crash test? Why?
I will always remember one particular high speed pole side impact crash test, on an older vehicle. This was part of a real life crash scenario reproduction program conducted in collaboration with a local university. The level of intrusion and damage to the vehicle was attributed to vehicle age and impact velocity, it was a stark reminder of how vulnerable we all are.

What is the most important piece of safety advice you would give to motorists?
Even though it's a cliché, I would say that being fully alert at all times, is the most important piece of safety advice I could give. Obviously, if it all goes horribly wrong, then being in an ANCAP 5 star rated car is a good back up plan.

What do you drive?
I drive a Mazda RX8 during the week but prefer my Westfield Clubman for the sunny weekends.
Meet Shellby and Gregg.

Meet ANCAP's latest vehicle safety advocates Shellby and Gregg. They're looking to buy new car-tons to get around in. Luckily vehicle safety is of great importance to at least Shellby who made sure she checked the ANCAP website before she bought her new car-ton.

A series of television commercials and online videos have been produced as part of this new "eggs" campaign promoting the importance of 5 star cars. These videos cover the topics of:
  • How to buy a better car
  • How side curtain airbags work
  • How we rate your car
  • Electronic stability control
Check out how Shellby and Gregg fared when they took part in ANCAP crash testing at youtube.com/ancapcrashtests.

ANCAP would like to thank its member organisation, the New Zealand Transport Agency, for allowing ANCAP to make use of these campaign materials.
RACQ MotorFest.

The threat of rain didn't stop thousands of people from pouring through the gates at RACQ MotorFest on Sunday 15 July 2012. Around 18,000 people, ranging from families to car buffs and everyone in between, turned out to Eagle Farm Racecourse to soak up the carnival atmosphere. Even the sunshine made an appearance after a week of gloomy, wet weather that threatened to cancel the event.

MotorFest, RACQ's biggest community event turned 17 in 2012, and it was certainly the biggest Motorfest by far. Not only did the event play host to more than 750 rare, vintage, classic, and collector cars, but it was home to a range of attractions, some of which have never been on display at MotorFest before. This year, drawcards included an ANCAP display complete with two crash tested vehicles - a 3 star Chery J1 and a 5 star Hyundai i45; all 15 of Australia's Best Cars; and $4 million worth of Lamborghinis.

But it wasn't just about the cars. Roving entertainers like MotorFest regulars Peebo and Dagwood put smiles on faces while the Kid's Corner kept the whole family entertained with rides and attractions from Dreamworld, Australia Zoo and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. At just a gold coin donation RACQ MotorFest 2012 was undoubtedly one of Brisbane's cheapest family days out and helped to raise thousands of dollars for RACQ's Helicopter Rescue Network which carries out vital, life saving rescue missions across Queensland.
 
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