EuroNCAP

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The European New Car Assessment Programme (or EuroNCAP) is a car safety assessment programme founded in 1995 and supported by several European governments, many major manufacturers and motoring organisations across the world.

EuroNCAP publishes safety reports on new cars, and awards 'star ratings' based on the performance of the vehicles in a variety of crash tests, including front, side and pole impacts, and impacts with pedestrians.

The frontal tests are performed at 64 km/h (about 40 mph) into an offset deformable barrier. The side impact tests are performed at 50 km/h (about 30 mph), but the side impact pole test is performed at 29 km/h (about 20 mph). The pedestrian safety tests are performed at 40 km/h (about 25 mph).

Over the years, European automakers' cars have become much safer, in a big part thanks to the EuroNCAP standards. One notable example of this is the Rover 100, which, after receiving a one-star Adult Occupant Rating in the tests in 1996, suffered from poor sales and was withdrawn from production soon afterwards.

European cars must meet the requirements as expressed in "Directive[s] of the European Parliament and Council", and one of these which involves frontal impact is termed Directive 2003/102/EC. It is this directive and its predecessors (dating back to Directive 70/156/EEC, of 1970) and successors which require cars to be designed to meet the safety requirements. BMW's second MINI, for example, had its bonnet (hood) and headlamp fixture changed to meet the latest requirements. This information is related here because Europe does not have an ongoing organ such as the United States Department of Transportation's FMVSS.