March 20, 2009 - The Honda Civic has been re-assessed as one of Europe‘s safest cars according to the new independent crash testing results from Euro NCAP.
Euro NCAP 5 star rating
Euro NCAP has developed a new rating scheme which focuses on the vehicle’s overall safety performance which gives consumers an easier to understand single score. The new system considers occupant protection in frontal, side, pole and rear impacts, child protection, pedestrian protection and the availability of driver aids. The Honda Civic has been awarded the maximum 5-star rating with an excellent overall score of 77%.
The new rating scheme, introduced in February 2009 replaces the old system. It uses a weighted score, combining many aspects of a car’s safety performance: adult (50%), child (20%) and pedestrian (20%) protection assessment and the availability of safety assistance devices (10%). A minimum score of 70% overall is necessary to achieve a 5-star rating. To qualify for inclusion, electronic vehicle stability assistance devices (VSA for Honda) must be fitted, as standard across 85% of the EU 27 2009 model range.
EuroNCAP's new assessment reflects Honda’s commitment to overall vehicle safety, and follows on from the 5 star result achieved by the new Honda Accord. Honda has always been committed to making vehicles safe for passengers and pedestrians.
The new rating system compliments Honda’s long standing in-house safety testing which seeks to improve real world safety. Honda’s car-to-car crash test facility at Tochigi analyses impacts between models of different sizes and weights and develope solutions to mitigate injuries for both parties.
Safety in the Honda Civic
All models are equipped with ABS and, for optimum performance, Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD) to achieve maximum braking performance and stability. It also features, across the range, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) designed to assist the driver in maintaining control during cornering, acceleration and sudden manoeuvres by applying braking to the right or left hand wheels as necessary and managing the throttle and brake systems.
Passive safety has always been paramount at Honda and the Civic has an innovative seat belt reminder system for the rear passengers. The system interprets the opening and closing of the rear doors and displays the rear seat belt sign on the multi-info instrument panel. The SRS unit then determines the status of each seatbelt buckle and sends the information to the display (showing no belts in use, or one, two or three in use). Special attention was also paid to passengers in the front, and both front seats are fitted with double pre-tensioners.
Active front seat headrests play a key role in protecting against whiplash injury in the event of an accident, and the Civic has achieved the highest possible rating in the neck impact alleviation study conducted by the independent research institute, Thatcham.