What's happening here, then?

Lots of smashy-smashy stuff as Euro NCAP, the independent crash test specialists, have been doing what we did as kids with our Matchbox cars, and ramming them into walls and such. Only with real cars of course, and the ramming is actually more like carefully calibrated testing to see just how safe the cars that are on sale now really are.

So what were the results?

Lots of full five-star scores pleasingly, with vehicles as different (and differently priced) as the Tesla Model S, new Skoda Fabia, Nissan Pulsar and BMW 2 Series Active Tourer all bringing home maximum safety scores. Tesla had a bit of a wobbly moment when its front passenger airbag 'bottomed out' - i.e. couldn't hold enough air to stop the dummy's robotic head from striking the dashboard, but it turned out to be a software glitch and all customer cars have had their airbag control systems suitably updated.

The Suzuki Celerio bagged a three-star rating, which is not bad considering its price and the fact that, as NCAP puts it, "A head-protecting side impact airbag is available as an option on the Celerio. As it is not standard equipment, the car did not qualify for assessment in the side pole test and no points were awarded."

The Renault Mégane, which was being re-tested, scored only four stars in total. That's an improvement on the three stars it scored recently, but must surely be a disappointment for Renault, considering that it was the first brand ever to get a maximum five-star score and most of its range has previously held maximum scores with the Euro NCAP.

Neil Briscoe - 29 Nov 2014