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The China New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP), a crucial vehicle safety evaluation programme, has announced updates to its protocol for 2024. C-NCAP, launched in 2006 and modified six times since, plays a significant role in the automobile industry by setting high safety standards and encouraging manufacturers to improve vehicle safety features.

The new protocol emphasises active safety, incorporating advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), driver monitoring systems (DMS), and road feature recognition (RFR) as a key element of the C-NCAP 2024 initiative.

In the occupant protection section, C-NCAP continues to test frontal impact, side impact, and whiplash protection in rear impacts. The Vulnerable Road User (VRU) protection section includes head-shaped tests, leg-shaped tests, and AEB-VRU tests. New for 2024 is the AEB False Reaction test, which evaluates the number of times AEB was incorrectly triggered.

Driver safety is also a focus, with the introduction of Driver Fitness Monitoring (DFM) and Driver Attention Monitoring (DAM) for testing. DFM assesses the driver's overall physical and cognitive capability to operate a vehicle, while DAM specifically targets the driver's current level of alertness and engagement with the driving task.

Advanced driving features such as automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane detection, blind spot warning, and VRU detection are increasingly important in the new C-NCAP 2024 protocols. The Lane Keeping Assist System (LKA) monitors the vehicle's position relative to the lane line in real-time and intervenes to assist the driver in maintaining the vehicle's lane position.

The Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA) system monitors other road users approaching laterally at the rear of the vehicle in real-time when the vehicle is backing up and sends out a warning message when a collision hazard may occur. The Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK) system assists the driver in maintaining the vehicle's lane position when it deviates into the adjacent lane and conflicts with other road participants. The Blind Spot Detection (BSD) system monitors the blind spot of the driver's field of vision in real-time and sends out prompts or warning messages when other road users appear in their blind spot.

Technologies like LeddarTech's AI-based low-level sensor fusion and perception technology, LeddarVision, extend the effective perception range and reduce false alarms, improving the performance of various ADAS functions. LeddarVision demonstrates robust performance in adverse conditions, detecting, tracking, and classifying objects under direct sunlight, at night or in dimly lit areas, in rain, snow, fog, and dusty environments.

By providing consumers with vital information on new vehicles' safety features and crashworthiness through a series of rigorous tests, C-NCAP continues to play a vital role in promoting vehicle safety in China and beyond. Vehicles are rated on a scale, typically from one to five stars, with five stars representing the highest level of safety.