Clearview National March 2020 - Issue 220 | Page 84
INSTALLERSUPPORT
JUST ONE-IN-10 NEW VANS FEATURES LIFE-SAVING
SAFETY TECH SET TO BECOME MANDATORY BY 2022
• Exclusive What Car? Vans research reveals
88% of all new vans fail to meet any of
the proposed European safety standards
• Automatic emergency braking, lane keep
assist and reversing cameras are some
of the technologies which will have to
be fitted to every new car and van from
2022, according to proposals by the
European Commission*
• To find the latest van reviews, visit: www.
whatcar.com/category/van (https://www.
whatcar.com/class/vans)
Just one-in-10 new vans on sale today
features lifesaving technology that is set to
become mandatory across all cars and vans
by 2022, according to exclusive analysis by
What Car? Vans (https://www.whatcar.com/
class/vans). Van fatalities have dropped by
38% since 2007** against a 24% rise in the
number of registered vans on the road, but the
findings show there is still plenty of room for
improvement. While some van manufacturers
are fitting important safety features, such
as Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) to
their vehicles, 88% of all vans on sale in the
UK today do not meet any of the upcoming
European Commission proposed safety
standards.
What Car? Vans analysed every van
derivative on sale in the UK*** and while
many top-of-the range examples come fitted
with multiple safety features as standard, lower
specification models typically do without
the potentially life-saving technologies. The
European Commission has proposed to make
eight safety technologies mandatory across
new cars and vans by 2022*. These include
driver drowsiness and distraction alerts,
intelligent speed assistance, reversing cameras
or sensors, data recorder in case of an accident,
lane-keep assistance, advanced emergency
braking, and crash-test improved safety belts.
What Car’s analysis found just 12% of
all new vans on sale have one of the eight
mandatory safety technologies as standard,
while only one in five vans come with at least
one of the eight as an optional extra. AEB,
which automatically applies the brakes if it
senses an imminent collision, is standard in
one-in five of the 228 new vans and pick-ups
on sale in the UK. Studies by Euro NCAP,
the European vehicle safety standards agency,
previously found AEB reduces real-word rear-
end collisions by 38%***.
Other technologies, including Lane Keeping
Assistance, which automatically keeps vans on
the centre of the lane, was available as standard
in only 2% of all new vans on sale, and an
optional extra in 18%. New technologies,
including Intelligent Speed Assistance, which
helps drivers to avoid exceeding the speed
limit, and automatically slows the vehicle
down when the limit drops, is found in
just 3% of new vans on sale, while crash-
test improved seat-belts and accident data
recorders are not fitted as standard to any van
currently on sale in the UK.
Despite van drivers covering on average
13,000 miles a year driver distraction and
drowsiness alerts were standard on just one-
in-10 vans on sale, and an optional extra
in 11%. In 2012, Euro NCAP tested some
of Europe’s best-selling vans and called on
“manufacturers to offer these vehicles with
higher levels of safety equipment” after many
of the models tested were found to lack basic
safety equipment such as electronic stability
control (ESC) .
Van manufacturers have since made
improvements to driver, passenger and
pedestrian safety. In the latest Euro NCAP
tests, for example, the Ford Transit achieved a
five star rating.
Jim Holder, editorial director of What Car?
Vans, said: “There are more than four million
vans on the road today. Van drivers shouldn’t
be waiting for legislation to come into force to
have access to the latest safety tech as standard.
Though the industry has made strides in
recent years, it clearly still has a lot more work
to do.”
To find read the latest van reviews, visit:
www.whatcar.com/class/vans
*https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:f7e29905-59b7-11e8-ab41-01aa75ed71a1.0003.02/DOC_1&format=PDF **https://www.
gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-annual-report-2017 ***What Car? Analysed the specification brochures for
every single van and pick-up derivative currently on sale in the UK, including their trim variations. In total, more than 220 different van and pick-
ups were analysed as part of the research. ****https://www.euroncap.com/en/press-media/press-releases/study-confirms-high-effectiveness-of-
low-speed-autonomous-emergency-https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/808555/
road-traffic-estimates-https://www.euroncap.com/en/press-media/press-releases/euro-ncap-tests-the-safety-of-business-and-family-vans/
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