AUTO LOCKSMITHS
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:
https://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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JAN/FEB 2020
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