Thatcham Set To Announce Car Safety Awards This Week

It’s almost time for the What Car?/Thatcham Safest Car Awards 2024, here’s the word;

Thatcham Research is revealing the shortlist for the What Car? Safety Award 2024, with the five vehicles in contention representing some of the safest vehicles on UK roads today. The shortlisted cars were selected by judges based on Euro NCAP test scores, in addition to other core criteria such as mass-market appeal, VRU protection and the performance of the car’s passive and active safety technology. For insurers these ADAS features are useful in calculating overall risk, alongside driver history of course.

“In 2023 we had new automotive brands enter the UK market, but thankfully that did not mean a compromise on safety performance. With the notably expanded safety requirements and new test scenarios from Euro NCAP, it is ever more impressive that both new and established brands took the challenge head on and delivered high achieving safety scores across a wide variety of vehicles.

“Vehicle manufacturers must also receive credit for listening to consumers and designing safety systems that support the driver and work with them collaboratively, a challenging task when combined with complex testing and assessments,” said principal engineer of automotive safety at Thatcham Research and What Car Safety Award judge, Alex Thompson.

EXTRA FACTORS

Euro NCAP secretary general and What Car? Safety Award judge, Michiel van Ratingen, also commented: “Last year, Euro NCAP released 18 car safety ratings, which underwent even more rigorous safety testing than usual due to updates in Euro NCAP requirements for collision avoidance, crash protection and post-crash safety. In collision avoidance we included new motorcycle scenarios and a scenario against ‘dooring’ – both of critical importance for vulnerable road users.

“We also included the evaluation of vehicle submergence counter measures in the updated 2023 rating, which with the increase of flooding due to global climate change has become essential. We must congratulate the short-listed manufacturers on their response to these updates – they continue to prioritise safety and make the latest solutions available for consumers. The What Car? Awards is an important recognition of their efforts.”

The What Car? Safety Award 2024 shortlist

The models in contention for the What Car? Safety Award 2024, in alphabetical order, are:

BMW 5 Series

The BMW 5 series is a well-known and popular model, and BMW have ensured that all the safety features you would expect from a well-established brand are present. The 5 series excelled in vulnerable road user protection (86%), and it has a pop-up bonnet to reduce the injury of pedestrians and cyclists in the event of collision.

The vehicle also allows a ADAS customisation, enabling drivers to tailor the system how they want, discouraging the systems being turned off all together. With some ADAS receiving negative feedback from customers, customisation can encourage drivers to keep the system on, ensuring that keeps the systems on and ensures the safety benefit is not lost.

BYD SEAL

As a newcomer to the What Car? Safety Award, BYD has excelled at producing this all-electric car, featuring many safety technologies often found on more premium vehicles.

In particular, the BYD SEAL performed extremely well, scoring full points in the latest Euro NCAP tests involving motorcyclist blind spot detection, sudden braking and the complex turn across path [4] scenarios. Safety systems often find motorcyclists difficult to detect due to their small profile, so it is great to see newer brands like BYD taking vulnerable road user safety seriously.

Lexus RZ

The RZ continues Lexus’ strong track record for safety. This all-electric car scored highly across the board including a score of 87% on the adult occupant and child occupant categories. It was also awarded full points on its AEB vulnerable road user performance (84%) which includes challenging nighttime scenarios.

The RZ is also fitted with a direct driver monitoring system as standard, which aims to ensure driver safety on longer journeys by monitoring sleepiness.

Mercedes EQE SUV

The EQE SUV is exactly what you would expect from a carmaker that excels in vehicle safety. In the AEB car to car scenarios the EQE SUV achieved the highest score of our shortlist (8.9/9), narrowly missing out on full points. However, in the particularly challenging head-on AEB scenario, the EQE SUV did manage to achieve full points.

Also achieving the highest child occupant protection score of the shortlist (90%), this vehicle can automatically disable the front passenger airbag when a child seat is installed in the seat, and automatically re-enable it if the child seat is removed.

Volkswagen ID.7

With its ADAS performance now meeting its already high performing Euro NCAP score, the ID.7 boasts a variety of innovative safety technology aimed at reducing risk to vulnerable road users such as a pop-up bonnet and sudden door opening prevention if a cyclist rides alongside the driver door. Its 95% adult occupant protection score is also the highest on our shortlist.

The Safety Award winner will be announced at the 2024 What Car? Awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, on Thursday 18 January.