This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
Ncap-Field Relevance of the Metrics
Technical Paper
2001-06-0170
Sector:
Language:
English
Abstract
By design, frontal New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) tests focus
on a narrow portion of the spectrum of field crash events. A
simple, high level parsing of towaway crashes from NHTSA's
National Automotive Sampling System - Crashworthiness Data System
(NASS-CDS) files shows that only a small fraction of occupants (but
a somewhat larger portion of their harm as measured by ISS) find
themselves in crash circumstances remotely similar to NCAP crash
conditions. Looking only at seat location, area of damage,
direction of force, distribution of damage, and estimated delta-V
filters significantly restricts the relevance of NCAP even before
critical factors like belt use and vehicle crash partner are
considered.
Given the limited scope of frontal NCAP it should not be
surprising that it has limited usefulness in discriminating among
various vehicles' overall performance in the field.