Frontal Impact
Frontal impact is performed at 64kph (40mph), the car crashes into a deformable barrier. Readings taken from the crash test dummies are used to assess the protection given to adult occupants in the front seats and child occupants in the rear seats. Each car tested is subjected to an offset impact into an immovable block fitted with a deformable aluminum honeycomb barrier, this represents the most frequent type of road crash, resulting in serious or fatal injury. The test simulates a frontal collision between two vehicles of similar mass, where the impact involves only part of the front of the vehicle, where only 40% of the car collides with the barrier. The use of this deformable barrier allows for the representation of the deformable nature of cars in a real-world collision situation.
The test uses two average-sized adult dummies in the driver and front passenger seats, along with two child dummies, aged 3 and 10, placed in their respective child restraint systems in the rear seat. An internal evaluation of the safety offered to 18-month-old children is also required, as well as an assessment of adult occupant safety in the rear seat. The goal of this last requirement is to drive improvements in adult protection through better restraint system performance, incorporating pretensioners and load limiters in the rear seatbelts.
The contact between the occupant and intrusive parts of the passenger compartment represents the main cause of serious and fatal injuries for seat belted adult occupants. The test speed of 64 km/h represents a car-to-car collision with each car travelling at around 55 km/h and crashing 50% of their width. Crash research has shown that this impact speed covers a significant proportion of serious and fatal collisions. By preventing intrusion into the passenger compartment, the likelihood of the occupant striking the interior of the vehicle is minimized, leaving sufficient space for the restraint systems to perform effectively.
Latin NCAP promotes vehicle designs in which the structure and passenger compartment, where occupants travel, remain stable during a crash, even in situations more demanding than those represented by the crash test. The structural stability of the passenger compartment is considered an essential element for the proper performance of restraint systems and, consequently, for occupant protection.
Steering wheel and dashboard mounted airbags, and in some cases also curtain airbags, are an important part of the driver's restraint system. Latin NCAP encourages designs where the driver's and passenger’s heads and chests are given stable support. The deceleration forces generated during a collision are transmitted to the passenger via restraint systems; Latin NCAP therefore promotes the use of restraint systems such as airbags and seatbelts that incorporate the latest technologies to ensure effective energy absorption during an impact, such as pretensioners, load limiters and dual-stage airbags.
In most cars, the restraint system is unable to prevent the knees of the front seat occupants from impacting the facia. Latin NCAP encourages the good design and removal of hazardous structures from the areas that the knees can impact. High forces on the knee can cause injury to the knee itself and can be transmitted up the femur to the hip joint and pelvis. These load bearing parts of the skeleton are susceptible to severe, long term, disabling injuries. In order to minimise injuries, Latin NCAP encourages intrusion reduction of the footwell area and minimized foot pedal displacement. Latin NCAP also takes into account variations in the age, weight and gender of the occupants in its analysis.