05/12/2019 14:56
The Euro NCAP safety test features rigorous assessments to determine how well vehicles perform in certain crash scenarios (frontal, rear and side tests) regarding the safety of the passengers. Areas of the vehicle that are assessed include Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection and Safety Assist features.
The overall scores for each area for the Octavia were:
Adult Occupant Protection: 92%
Child Occupant Protection: 88%
Vulnerable Road Users: 73%
Safety Assist: 79%
Let’s review these scores in more depth.
Adult Occupant Protection
In the frontal offset test, the Octavia showed promising results, with the passenger compartment remaining stable and the knees and femurs of both the driver and passenger receiving good protection.
The Octavia was also awarded top marks in the side barrier test because all critical areas of the body were well protected.
The only crash tests that indicated marginal protection to the chest was in the full-width rigid barrier test and the more serious side pole test. However, in both tests, the rest of the body received good protection.
To measure the impact of whiplash injuries, tests were carried out on the head restraints and the front seats, which found good protection against whiplash if the vehicle was involved in a rear-end collision.
The Skoda Octavia also features an Autonomous Emergency Braking system, which can aid drivers in situations where whiplash injuries are more likely to occur, which performed well when tested in these low-speed scenarios.
Child Occupant Protection
For children, the Skoda Octavia provided good protection to all areas of the body deemed critical, with the exception of the 10-year-old’s neck, which was marginally protected.
However, again, the Skoda received full marks in the side barrier test, with both the 10-year-old and 6-year-old dummy protected well in all critical areas of the body.
The large family car was also assessed on its ability to securely fit child seats in.
The Skoda was awarded for providing clear information on the status of the front seat airbag, which could be disabled to enable drivers to fit a rear-ward facing child seat in the front.
Other child restraints compatible with the Octavia could also be safely installed.
Vulnerable Road Users
As previously mentioned, the Skoda Octavia features an AEB system, which helps to detect vulnerable road users, including cyclists, pedestrians and other vehicles, and performed adequately in the tests, with the majority of accidents avoided or reduced.
However, if a pedestrian was to be hit, Euro NCAP test how well the bonnet and bumper would perform. Overall, the bonnet provided good/adequate protection to the pedestrian, with only poor results recorded on the stiff windscreen pillars. However, the bumper produced good protection overall, especially to the legs and pelvis area.
Safety Assist
The Octavia features a seatbelt reminder system in both the front and back seats, as well as a driver-set speed limiter to help the driver keep to the speed limit. Furthermore, the lane assist aids drivers if they begin to drift over to the wrong lane.
Finally, the AEB system was tested and it performed well when other vehicles were driving at faster speeds.