New Car Assessment Program

In 1979, NHTSA began the NCAP as an experiment to see how well new vehicles performed during a frontal crash. The program has continued since that time with NHTSA selecting 30 or so new vehicles every year to be crash tested at 35 mph. This is stricter testing than the 30 mph testing required of the federal motor vehicle safety standards. Usually, popular vehicles are selected, including vans and pickup trucks, in order to provide crash information to the greatest number of consumers. Crash tests are designed for vehicles within the same size and weight class. Information on the relative levels of occupant protection and vehicle safety performance is obtained through the use of instrumented and safety belted dummies. TIS maintains a complete file of the NCAP crash testing summary results since 1979. The NCAP summary results are announced periodically in the NHTSA Press Releases issued by the Office of Public and Consumer Affairs. Requests for copies of the test reports should be directed to the TIS Docket Section. There are films available from the National Crash Analysis Center for each NCAP test. Results for 1995 to the most recent NCAP testing are available via the NHTSA Web Site in the NCAP Database.