The safety of the trucks on European roads is in the spotlight after Euro NCAP revealed the first set of results for its brand-new TRUCK SAFE assessment programme. This is the very first time that HGVs have been tested for safety. Out of nine trucks assessed, Volvo’s FH Aero and FM models both earned a maximum five-star rating, while IVECO’s current S-WAY model emerged as the weakest performer with one star.
As part of its mission to achieve Vision Zero (eliminating all traffic fatalities and serious injuries), Euro NCAP has turned its testing and safety performance attention to the HGV vehicle category for the first time.
Image: Euro NCAP
The organisation has been helping to drive up safety standards by evaluating and rating the active and passive safety performance of passenger cars for close to 30 years and launched a similar rating scheme for Light Commercial Vehicles in 2020.
The threat HGVs pose
Because of their size and weight, HGV crashes are the most severe on European roads. Although trucks account for less than 3% of the traffic fleet in Europe, they are responsible for 15% of accident fatalities. Furthermore, only 11% of casualties in accidents involving HGVs are truck occupants. The remaining 89% are car and van occupants, as well as Vulnerable Road Users. [1]
The benefits of getting safety right
HGVs are an economic force for good, fulfilling an essential role distributing 95% of the goods consumed across the European continent. It’s therefore important that the sector is supported while ensuring trucks are safe and don’t continue to pose a disproportionate threat to other road users.
Objective measures of HGV safety performance will allow all stakeholders that rely on the haulage sector to select the safest trucks and play a part in reducing the societal cost of road transport, while also helping to generate better commercial outcomes.
The TRUCK SAFE programme will unify road authorities, hauliers, drivers, insurers, truck manufacturers themselves and the brands and companies who want their goods shipped safely around common and harmonised best practice.
Image: Euro NCAP
The testing protocols
The first cohort to be tested under the TRUCK SAFE protocols were nine trucks from the fleet long-haul segment. The nine trucks selected for testing represent 95% of the trucks in this category that are currently on Europe’s roads.
TRUCK SAFE is the first of Euro NCAP’s testing protocols to adopt a new framework that measures vehicle safety across the lifecycle of an accident. For this particular assessment of long-haul HGVs, the evaluation methodology ‘the Stages of Safety’ focuses on three stages and the timeline of a typical accident scenario: the hours and minutes before an accident with an emphasis on safe driving, active safety system intervention before an incident or crash avoidance and the post-crash ‘golden hour’ after an incident.
A percentage score is awarded for performance during each stage. These scores are then collated to determine an overall rating out of five stars. The assessment categories are:
Safe Driving
Occupant monitoring, driver engagement, vision and vehicle assistance
Crash Avoidance
ADAS performance in avoiding frontal, lane change, and low-speed manoeuvring collisions
Post Crash
Rescue information and ease of extrication during the ‘golden hour’
(This ‘crash lifecycle’ approach will be progressively adopted across all of Euro NCAP’s different vehicle category testing protocols).
As well as giving each truck a rating out of five stars, Euro NCAP has also introduced an additional CitySafe accreditation that is awarded to trucks that feature technologies or good design that can prevent accidents that typically happen in cities or urban environments, such as automated emergency braking should unsighted bicycles be detected alongside vehicles making junction turns.
Trucks were evaluated at various Euro NCAP-accredited testing facilities across Europe, including HORIBA MIRA in the UK, Applus Idiada in Spain, DEKRA in Germany, and CSI in Italy.
Image: Euro NCAP
Matthew Avery, Director of Strategic Development, Euro NCAP, said, “The launch of our TRUCK SAFE assessment programme is a landmark moment for vehicle safety and marks the start of our journey into fleet and business purchases. This is an essential step towards achieving Vision Zero.
“Our first set of TRUCK SAFE testing protocols do a fantastic job of assessing capability and identifying which manufacturers are performing well. In due course, we will add passive safety (collision protection) by 2030 to further address the problems of truck-to-car crashes.
“As well as inspiring manufacturers to build safer trucks, TRUCK SAFE will also unite everyone within the HGV safety ecosystem for the first time. These stakeholders have a lot to gain from having safer trucks on Europe’s roads, whether that’s road authorities being able to reduce the societal cost of road transport and supporting a growing economy, freight shippers minimising their reputational risk and protecting their brand, or helping manufacturers to build safer trucks that will be more attractive to the market.
Image: Euro NCAP
“It’s a well-known fact that a safe truck is a more profitable vehicle, and that’s something that benefits business and Europe as a whole.”
Dr. Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General Euro NCAP, said, “The next batch of TRUCK SAFE results will focus on the long-haul fleet rigid segment and will be released in April 2025. The urban distribution segment will then come under scrutiny, with those results set to be revealed in October 2025.”
Mark Cartwright, Head of Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention, National Highways, said, “Our number one priority is safety and that’s why we are proud to support Euro NCAP’s work in developing rating standards for HGVs.”
Sheena Hague, Director of Road Safety, National Highways, said, “We welcome the introduction of the TRUCK SAFE rating as our roads carry two-thirds of freight. This work by Euro NCAP will help make our roads even safer. We continue to work with freight companies and other partners to achieve our ambition of making sure no-one is harmed on our roads.”
Sara Forsberg, Chief Technical Officer, Scania, said, “Our commitment at Scania is to prioritise road safety, and we applaud Euro NCAP’s extended safety assessments to heavy trucks. This new rating system will elevate industry standards, fostering meaningful advancements that benefit all road users.”
