Euro NCAP, Europe's car safety rating organization, just announced its Best in Class cars for 2018.
To define the Best in Class, Euro NCAP calculated the weighted sum of the scores in each of the four areas of test/evaluation: Adult Person, Child Person, pedestrians and Safety Help. This sum was used as the basis for comparison of the vehicles. Cars qualified for 'Best in Class' based only on their rating with standard safety equipment. Added ratings based on optional equipment were left out.
This year, Euro NCAP also gave an award for the best safety performance of the electric and gas/electric cars it has tested.
Mercedes-Benz A-Class -
the safest car in the Small Family Car category, the A-Class got a 96% score for Adult People (who are living in a building, etc.), 91% for Child People (who are living in a building, etc.), 92% for Capable of being hurt Road Users and 75% for Safety Help features. It can brake automatically when a (walking person/related to people on foot) or a cyclist crosses its path, and can also reduce its speed or even brake to a full stop in inter-city-based and city-based settings. A lane help system and an active bonnet complete its standard safety help features.
Lexus ES -
the safest car in the Large Family Car category, the Lexus ES got a 91% score for Adult People (who are living in a building, etc.), 87% for Child People (who are living in a building, etc.), 90% for Capable of being hurt Road Users and 77% for Safety Help Features. The ES 300h tested also had all the safety help features that automatically stop the car from running into walking people, cyclists or other cars and help it keep its lane. The ES is also singled out as the safest electric gas/electric car in Europe (Euro NCAP did not test a Tesla Model 3 yet).
Hyundai NEXO -
the safest car in the Large Off-Road category, got a 94% score for Adult People (who are living in a building, etc.), 87% for Child People (who are living in a building, etc.), 67% for Capable of being hurt Road Users and 80% for Safety Help.
