The latest updates to the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), introduce significant changes and additions across various safety and testing domains.

Summary of Key Updates

These updates mark a substantial step toward reducing road fatalities and improving vehicle safety by addressing current gaps, emphasizing vulnerable users, and aligning with global practices.

Our safety experts have read the NHTSA NCAP Final Decision and Roadmap documents and created a summary of the key updates.

1. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS): Four new ADAS technologies added to NCAP:

Blind Spot Warning (BSW) and Blind Spot Intervention (BSI):

  • Evaluate for performance to prevent collisions during lane changes or adjacent vehicle presence.
  • Tests include activation of warnings and interventions with and without turn signals.

Lane Keeping Assist (LKA):

  • Integrated with Lane Departure Warning (LDW) evaluations.
  • Assesses vehicle response to lane lines and promote use of haptic, visual and auditory signals.

Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking (PAEB):

  • Tests include pedestrian detection in crossing under daylight and nighttime conditions.
  • Maximum test speeds are increased to 60 kph (37.3 mph) for certain conditions.
     

2. Updated Forward Collision Prevention Standards

  • New test scenarios and stricter evaluation criteria for:
    • Crash Imminent Braking (CIB): Includes higher test speeds up to 80 kph (49.7 mph).
    • Dynamic Brake Support (DBS): more challenging speed differentials and no-contact criteria.
  • Enhanced false positive suppression tests to ensure systems do not activate unnecessarily.

3. Enhanced Crashworthiness Testing

The NCAP roadmap updates includes new regulations involving crash dummies THOR-50M, THOR-5F, WorldSID-50M, and WorldSID-5F as part of enhanced crashworthiness evaluations:

Adoption of advanced crash test dummies: THOR-50M (frontal), and WorldSID-50M (side-impact)

  • These advanced dummies will be incorporated into frontal and side impact tests starting with model year 2027 vehicles.
  • THOR-50M will be used in frontal crash tests, including the frontal rigid barrier crash test.
  • WorldSID-50M will replace earlier side-impact dummies for more accurate injury risk assessments in side crashes.

Integration of tests focusing on female-specific crash dummies (THOR-5F and WorldSID-5F).

  • These represent advanced fifth-percentile female crash dummies and are planned for future integration into NCAP testing.
  • THOR-5F is undergoing further development for frontal crash assessments, while WorldSID-5F is targeted for side-impact tests, likely around 2031-2033. 

Enhanced evaluation metrics for rib deflections and injury risk.

US NCAP Update

4. Focus on Vulnerable Road User (VRU) Safety

  • Expansion of PAEB to include testing for bicyclists and motorcyclists.
  • Future plans to address safety features that protect pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable groups through additional ratings.

5. Safety Ratings and Consumer Information

  • Development of an “overall safety rating” incorporating crashworthiness, crash avoidance, and VRU safety performance.
  • Ratings to be displayed on Monroney labels (vehicle window stickers) by 2027.
  • Plans for periodic updates to ensure consumer information reflects the latest safety technologies.

6. Ten-Year Roadmap (2024-2033)

  • Focus on phased updates to testing protocols, ratings, and technologies.
  • Mid-term (2024-2028): Rear Automatic Braking, enhanced FCW, CIB, and DBS evaluations.
  • Long-term (2029-2033): 
    • Enhanced AEB for intersection scenarios.
    • Advanced crashworthiness using new tools like a pedestrian leg-form impactor (aPLI).
NHTSA Mid-Term Roadmap
NHTSA Long-Term Roadmap

Harmonization with Global Standards

The automotive industry has embraced the adoption of procedures aligning with Euro NCAP and other international safety standards, while also incorporating newer tools such as the Global Vehicle Target (GVT) to standardize testing on a global scale.

Emphasis on Emerging Technologies

The automotive safety landscape is evolving with the exploration of Driver Monitoring Systems to address distracted and drowsy driving, alongside the planned incorporation of Intelligent Speed Assist technologies in upcoming updates.

These updates mark a substantial step toward reducing road fatalities and improving vehicle safety by addressing current gaps, emphasizing vulnerable users, and aligning with global practices.

Learn About the U.S. NCAP Final Decisions and Roadmap

This live webinar will cover the significant enhancements to Automated Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS) and pedestrian safety, featuring new technologies such as pedestrian automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, and blind spot interventions. 

Barney Loehnis

Barney Loehnis

Barney is the President of Humanetics Sensors & Chief Marketing Officer, leading our Sensor group and marketing growth programs, strategic communications, and customer experience design. He has led marketing and digital transformations in Europe, Asia and the USA in B2B, B2C and agency sectors, for clients like IBM, VW, Huawei, Qualcomm and Mercer Consulting. Barney is a British and American citizen, a bad runner and avid cook.