Abstract
The Korean New Car Assessment Program (KNCAP) has been carried out by the Korean Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) since 1999 in order to encourage that the auto makers shall launch the safer cars into the domestic market.
Overall assessment for all KNCAP tests has been studied from 2009 to integrate in a single rating system. So, the overall evaluation for crash safety was added and evaluated in the KNCAP from 2010. The crash safety consists of the full frontal impact test, the offset frontal impact test, the side impact test, the pole side impact test and the whiplash test. The overall evaluation will be graded 5 grade rating, and the first grade will be scored from 47 to 54 point.
In 2010 the KNCAP evaluated the occupant protection performance of 12 vehicles from four domestic and three foreign auto makers. The KNCAP released to the press the results of 12 vehicles with the overall evaluation on crash safety. 11 vehicles got 1st grade in the overall evaluation on crash safety. And the results of 5 vehicles were released in August, and the last results of 7 vehicles were released in December. Besides, the KNCAP awarded “the safer car of the year” based on the overall evaluation results on crash safety. The Korea government has vision to reduce the traffic accident fatalities to half by 2012.
Keywords: KNCAP, Full Frontal Impact Test, Offset Frontal Impact Test, Side Impact Test, Pole Side Impact Test, Whiplash, Overall Evaluation on Crash Safety