Oz, New Zealand Regulators Back New U.S. Crash Test

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program endorses the new small-overlap frontal-crash test by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the U.S., saying it supports continuous development of crash-testing.

“We are monitoring developments in vehicle safety and the crash-testing field worldwide so that we can incorporate best practice into our Australasian test regime,” ANCAP Chairman Lauchlan McIntosh says in a statement.

ANCAP conducts a series of five internationally recognized safety tests, including a 40% frontal-offset crash test.

In the IIHS small-overlap frontal-crash test, 25% of a vehicle’s front end hits a rigid barrier at 40 mph (64 km/h) to simulate a collision with another vehicle or object, such as a tree or pole.

The test is not conducted anywhere else in the U.S., Europe or Australia.

McIntosh says it is important to continue with ANCAP’s five tests because the organization continues to see new models entering the Australasian market that do not perform well in the safety agency’s current crash tests.

“However, more demanding tests like the IIHS small-overlap frontal-crash test would complement the suite of ANCAP tests and discourage manufacturers from tuning the design of vehicles to a particular crash test,” he says.

ANCAP is working with New Car Assessment Programs around the world and is helping organize a meeting next month in Japan to discuss closer global coordination of test procedures.

ANCAP is supported by all Australian and New Zealand motoring clubs, the governments of both countries, all Australian state governments, the Victoria Transport Accident Commission, NRMA Insurance and the FIA Foundation.