Fourteen commercial vans have qualified for an award by Euro NCAP under new criteria that prioritises crash avoidance and driver assistance systems.

The fourteen come from nineteen vans, covering 98% of European sales last year, which were tested in accordance with Euro NCAP 2018 Safety Assist protocols, that include; AEB, Lane Support, Speed Assistance and Occupant State Monitoring.

The new ratings are designed to encourage wider fitment of ADAS on commercial vans, show differences between brands in the systems’ performance and help fleet operator and business owners to make safer choices.

For the benefit of commercial van drivers and all road users, Euro NCAP is calling for:

Standardisation of safety equipment on commercial vans ahead of General Safety Regulation which is still some years away.

Better performance of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) on commercial vans, to match the state-of-the-art technology fitted to cars.

Fleet operators to take responsibility for the safety of their drivers and to demand a minimum silver-level performance in Euro NCAP’s new ranking scheme when making purchasing decisions.

Greater clarity from van manufacturers, on websites and in marketing material, regarding the safety features available on their vehicles.

In this round of tests, top achievers were, the Ford Transit, Mercedes-Benz Vito and VW Transporter, which received Gold awards. The Ford Transit Custom, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Opel Vivaro, Peugeot Expert and the VW Crafter got Silver recognition and bronze awards went to the Citroën Jumper and the Jumpy, FIAT Ducato, Iveco Daily, Peugeot Boxer and the Toyota PROACE.

Missing out on safety recognition were the FIAT Talento, Opel Movano, Nissan NV400, the Renault Master and Renault Trafic.