How safe is your car? ANCAP vehicle safety ratings explained

What do ANCAP star ratings mean?

ANCAP safety ratings are determined through a series of scientific, internationally recognised crash tests, undertaken in controlled laboratories and environments, that are designed to test the level of safety a new vehicle provides to its occupants, other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. 

Though ANCAP published the results from its first crash test in 1993, the star rating system wasn’t introduced until 1999. 

The ratings assess the level of safety a new vehicle provides to occupants, other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, across a range of common crash scenarios. They also assess how well a vehicle’s collision avoidance technology is able to evade or minimise the severity of a crash.

Vehicles can achieve a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating. The more stars a vehicle has, the better it performed across key pillars in the ANCAP testing. 

What are the assessment criteria?

ANCAP tests and rates unmodified passenger, sports utility (SUV) and light commercial vehicles (LCV) when released as new vehicles into the Australian and New Zealand markets.

Safety is rated based on how vehicles perform across four key assessment pillars: 

• Adult Occupant Protection: Considers the level of protection for adults seated in the front and second row of a vehicle in some of the most common serious injury-causing crashes scenarios.

• Child Occupant Protection: Considers the level of protection offered to children seated in the rear seats, in the appropriate child restraints, as well as the ability of the vehicle to accommodate the most common child restraints. Vehicles are also assessed on the inclusion and effectiveness of safety features for child occupants.

• Vulnerable Road User Protection: Assesses the vehicle’s risk to minimise injury risk to a struck pedestrian or cyclist, as well as the vehicle’s ability, through tech inclusions or advancements, to avoid or reduce impact with vulnerable road users.

• Safety Assist: This evaluates the inclusion and effectiveness of additional collision avoidance technology – such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems, lane support systems (LSS) and automatic emergency steering (AES) systems – that has been fitted to the vehicle, which may help to prevent or minimise the severity of a crash. This does not include vehicle modifications such as bullbars or rollover protection systems.

How do you get a five-star ANCAP safety rating?

To achieve a five-star ANCAP rating, vehicles must perform at a high level across the four key categories and are required to meet minimum score thresholds for each star rating level.  A vehicle cannot achieve a five-star ANCAP safety rating, for example, without providing a good level of protection to child occupants.

How often are ANCAP test criteria updated?

Rating requirements are updated every three years to encourage manufacturers to include the latest safety features and technologies into new vehicles entering the Australian and New Zealand markets. 

Is an ANCAP safety rating permanent?

ANCAP safety ratings are valid for six years, which is why it is important to check the ANCAP date stamp to make sure the safety rating for the vehicle you’re considering is still valid.

Can a vehicle manufacturer improve its ANCAP rating?

In general, ANCAP does not re-test models within the same series unless significant safety updates that would improve the rating are introduced or if a manufacturer removes key features that could impact the vehicle’s safety performance.