Meanwhile, Iveco’s S-Way only won one star, making it the weakest performer among the nine tractor units tested.
The majority of new trucks sold in the UK comply with Europe’s General Safety Regulation (GSR2), which requires a wide variety of safety systems. Euro NCAP argues that additional measures are essential given that trucks represent under 1.5% of vehicles on Europe’s roads but are involved in nearly 15% of all road fatalities.
The Euro NCAP testing regime looks at three aspects of a vehicle.
Safe Driving considers how good the driver’s direct and indirect vision is, whether a driver monitoring system is in place and whether drivers are reminded to put their seatbelts on.
Crash Avoidance reviews how effective the truck’s ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) is when it comes to helping drivers avoid frontal, lane change, and low-speed manoeuvring collisions.
Post Crash examines how easy it is to extract casualties from the cab in the aftermath of a smash.
A percentage score is awarded for performance at each stage and the scores are collated to determine an overall rating out of five stars. The trucks were evaluated at Euro NCAP-accredited testing facilities around Europe.
Euro NCAP has also introduced a CitySafe accreditation for trucks with technologies or design features that can help to prevent collisions in city centres.
Volvo’s FH Aero and FM were both tagged as being CitySafe, with Safe Driving scores of 80% and 87% respectively. Collision Avoidance and Rescue percentages were the same in both cases, at 89% and 80%.
Every truck assessed achieved an 80% rescue percentage.
Volvo’s sister brand Renault’s T was accorded four stars, thanks largely to what the assessors described as its high-quality ADAS. Safe Driving was at 72% and Collision Avoidance at 70%. It was not given a CitySafe rating.
Scania’s G-series was viewed as CitySafe and won a four-star rating, with Safe Driving at 71% and Collision Avoidance at 62%.
Scania’s R-series dropped down to three stars and was not granted a CitySafe badge. Safe Driving and Collision Avoidance percentages were 64% and 62% respectively,
DAF’s XF received three stars too along with the CitySafe accolade. Safe Driving was at 85% and Collision Avoidance at 35%.
None of the remaining three trucks assessed was viewed as CitySafe.
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