The ten safest cars vying for the What Car? Safety Award have been revealed by Thatcham Research.
Beyond a five-star Euro NCAP rating, the ten cars longlisted for the much-coveted award were also selected by expert judges on:
- Euro NCAP scores for the highest levels of protection offered to driver, front passenger and rear-seated child passengers in a crash
- Performance in new Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) tests, introduced to address rising numbers of cyclist and pedestrian collisions
- Availability of systems which combine Adaptive Cruise Control, Speed Recognition and Control, and Steering Support – the first step towards vehicle automation
- Sales volume in the UK – can the car have an opportunity to make a real impact on road safety?
“It’s clear that occupants of the latest cars are at a lower risk than ever. But not resting on our laurels, we raised the bar in safety testing for 2018,” said Matthew Avery, What Car? Safety Award Judge and Director of Research at Thatcham Research. “This means the ten cars in this longlist are some of the safest ever made, anywhere in the world.”
The ten safest new cars, in alphabetical order, are: Audi A6, Audi Q3, Ford Focus, Jaguar I-Pace, Lexus ES, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Nissan LEAF, Peugeot 508, Volvo V60/S60, Volvo XC40.
The overall What Car? Safety Award 2019 winner, along with the cars in second and third place, will be announced on Tuesday January 22 2019.
