New Hyundai Santa Fe score 5 stars in Euro NCAP Rating

The premium SUV from Hyundai, in its international line-up, has scored a five-star rating in Euro NCAP Rating.

With six airbags offered as standard along with a plethora of other features Hyundai cars are known for, the new Santa Fe achieved 94 per cent in adult occupancy and 88 per cent in child occupancy. It also scored 67 per cent for vulnerable road users and 76 per cent for its safety assist systems.

The Isofix child seat anchorages at the rear are offered as standard in the rear seats. Santa Fe is claimed to be the first SUV in its segment to get the same in the front passenger seat as well.

The only area in which the Santa Fe was marked down was in the pedestrian safety department. “The protection provided by the bonnet to the head of a struck pedestrian was predominantly good or adequate, with some areas providing poor protection at the windscreen base and on the windscreen pillars”, the crash test agency said.

The Ratings Explained

Euro NCAP introduced the overall safety rating in 2009, based on an assessment in four important areas:

• Adult Occupant Protection (for the driver and passenger): The Adult Occupant Protection score is determined from frontal impact, side impact and whiplash tests, which are carried out to evaluate the protection of adult driver and passengers offered by the vehicle.
• Child Occupant Protection: The assessment of Child Occupant Protection covers three aspects: the protection offered by the child restraint systems in the frontal and side impact tests; the vehicle’s ability to accommodate child restraints of various sizes and designs; and the availability of provisions for safe transport of children in the car.
• Pedestrian Protection which has been expanded to include cyclists and is now known as Vulnerable Road User (VRU) protection: The potential risks of injuries to a pedestrian’s head, pelvis, upper and lower leg are assessed. Cars which perform well can gain additional points if they have an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system which recognises pedestrians and cyclists.
• Safety Assist: This score is determined from tests to the most important driver assist technologies that support safe driving to avoid accidents and mitigate injuries. In these tests, Euro NCAP tests system functionality and/or performance during normal driving and in typical accident scenarios.

The overall star rating was introduced to add more flexibility to the previous ratings’ scheme which had been in use since 1997.

Achieving a good rating at Euro NCAP has been a global standard for any car’s performance review. It is taken very importantly amongst car manufacturers.

Also Read: Tata Nexon First Indian Car To Get Five-Star Safety Rating