SARAC:​ safety rating based on real-world crashes for supplementation of new car assessment programs

Langwieder, Klaus; Fildes, Brian; Ernvall, Timo; Cameron, Max

Affiliations

¹Comité Européen des Assurances (CEA), German Insurance Association (GDV), Institute for Vehicle Safety, Munich, Germany

²Monash University Accident Research Centre, Australia

³Helsinki University of Technology, Finland

Abstract

New car crash testing programmes promote car manufacturers, by the way of consumer choice, to improve the occupant protection of new car models. It is also possible to produce an assessment of relative car occupant protection on the basis of real world accidents.

NCAPs and safety ratings based on real-world accidents are complementary. Whereas crash test programmes attempt to simulate the most likely crash types and are carried out in controlled laboratory conditions, assessments based upon real world accident data reflect all accident circumstances. Neither approach guarantees a perfect rating system but both have the potential to produce consistent consumer information about the relative safety of cars.

Therefore, the European Project “Quality Criteria for the Safety Assessment of Cars based on Real World Crashes” was established, with three major objectives:

description of existing rating methods and identification of problem areas;
inter-relationship between retrospective (accident- based ratings) and prospective barrier-test rating systems;
consideration of vehicle compatibility and aggressivity ratings.

The activities of this Safety Rating Advisory Committee (SARAC) which is directly aligned to the European Commission DG TREN were coordinated by the Committee of the European Insurers and founded by project members from 10 countries including Europe, United States of America, Australia and Japan.

The comparison of EuroNCAP rating with SARAC real-world accident experience showed good correlation. The use of regression procedures offered new possibilities to describe aggressivity parameters of cars based on real accidents. Further results of the first SARAC phase and an outlook over the second project phase will be presented. Future investigations will include in-depth comparison of existing rating systems with the aim to develop a comprehensive retrospective rating procedure. Consideration of active safety systems and possibilities of analysing/monitoring the injury outcome in car/pedestrian crashes are focal objectives in SARAC 2. A specialised database containing realworld crash data of vehicle models which have been tested in NCAP crash tests will be established.

Links

URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv18/CD/Files/18ESV-000175.pdf

Cited Works (3)

Year	Entry
2001	Cameron M, Narayan S, Newstead S, Ernvall T, Laine V, Langwieder K. Comparative analysis of several vehicle safety rating systems. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 4-7, 2001; Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2001	Cameron M, Les M, Newstead S, Narayan S, Ernvall T, Laine V. Empirical comparison of vehicle aggressivity rating systems. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 4-7, 2001; Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2001	Langwieder K, Fildes B, Ernvall T, Cameron M. Quality criteria for crashworthiness assessment from real-world crashes. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 4-7, 2001; Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Cited By (6)

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2007	Segui-Gomez M, Lopez-Valdes FJ, Frampton R. An evaluation of the euroncap crash test safety ratings in the real world. In: 51st Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 15-17, 2007; Melbourne, Australia.281-298.
2009	Page Y, Cuny S, Zangmeister T, Kreiss J-P, Hermitte T. The evaluation of the safety benefits of combined passive and on-board active safety applications. In: 53rd Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 5-7, 2009; Baltimore, MD.117-127.
2019	Ydenius A, Kullgren A. Guideline for a vehicle purchase policy aiming at a safe and sustainable vehicle fleet. In: Proceedings of the 26th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 10-13, 2019; Eindhoven, Netherlands.
2019	Kullgren A, Axelsson A, Stigson H, Ydenius A. Developments in car crash safety and comparisons between results from Euro NCAP tests and real-world crashes. In: Proceedings of the 26th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 10-13, 2019; Eindhoven, Netherlands.
2012	Brolin K, Mendoza‐Vazquez M, Song E, Lecuyer E, Davidsson J. Design implications for improving an anthropomorphic test device based on human body simulations. In: Proceedings of the 2012 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 12-14, 2012; Dublin, Ireland.843-855.
2010	Kullgren A, Lie A, Tingvall C. Comparison between Euro NCAP test results and real-world crash data. Traffic Inj Prev. December 2010;11(6):587-93.