These days, the subject of car safety is rarely discussed without a mention of the EuroNCAP ratings. Someone will always pop the question of how many EuroNCAP stars does a certain car have. Its premise is a good one. A fully independent body that puts to the test cars, not specially prepared from the factory, but bought off the showroom. So they crash exactly what you drive, nothing more, nothing less.
The beauty of the EuroNCAP is that it gives the people on the streets a simple benchmark from which the crashworthiness of cars can be compared. It’s a lot easier to digest star ratings compared to raw figures like, say, the maximum shear stress. And since it has become the test everyone (i.e. customers) talk about, car makers have no choice but to scramble and ensure that their cars conform to EuroNCAP standards. Quite simply, EuroNCAP has completely redefined the playing field as far as safety is concerned. A good example is that nobody cared about pedestrian protection until EuroNCAP came along.
In the great spirit of ‘Malaysia Boleh’, an organization within our shores are taking the first steps to setup a similar safety evaluation benchmark for the benefits of the consumer. The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) has recently setup what it calls the Malaysian Vehicle Assessment Program (MyVAP) certification program setup with the objective to increase the general public’s awareness regarding road safety. Now, before you ask for photos or videos of the crash test, hear this, the MyVAP evaluation program is non-destructive.
Instead of slamming cars against walls, MIROS sends a team of of engineers from their Crash Safety Engineering Unit (CRASE) to assess and evaluate the cars and their manufacturers based on four major criteria: Compliance to United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) certification, Passive Safety Level, Active Safety Level and Production Conformation. At this stage, MIROS does not have the means to perform actual crash tests, though there are plans underway to have such facilities available soon.
Getting the ball rolling for the MyVAP program is the Proton Exora, which was evaluated by MIROS just two months after its launch on April. The assessment team from MIROS gave the Exora a four-star rating, with the report officially presented by MIROS Director General Professor Dr. Ahmad Farhan Mohd. Sadullah to Proton MD Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir at the MIREX ’09 exhibition earlier today.
Together with the four-star rating, MIROS also designated the Exora as “MIROS’ Safety Companion”. Although giving a strong rating, the MyVAP auditing pointed out room for Proton to improve its latest model by incorporating side airbags, curtain airbags and a pop-up bonnet.
Commenting on the award received, Dato’ Syed Zainal said “we are indeed very proud of this recognition as it serves as a testament to the safety features that we have built the MPV with. I believe the award would further enhance the confidence of the public towards the Nation’s very first home-grown MPV.”
“Our decision of voluntarily submitting this MPV for the MyVAP test goes to show the confidence that we have in the Exora and we are proud to be the first car company in Malaysia to have done it and concurrently kick-started this evaluation program. As the national car producer, we have a vital role to play in further developing the total eco-system of the automotive industry and as such our participation here in this evaluation would be one of the few ways of contributing towards the development of the industry here,” added DSZ.
“Of course we are very happy to have received such a recognition but nevertheless, we will continuously strive to improve further on our products for the consumers” DSZ concluded.
In his speech, DSZ also noted that all future Proton models will be submitted for evaluation by MyVAP as part of Proton’s new-found commitment to safety, and also that Proton’s policy from now on would be that domestic models will no longer be offered at inferior specifications to its exported cars.
The development of the MyVAP program and Proton’s eagerness to support it is an encouraging move for all parties concerned. But, before we all start to sing praises, it should be noted that the MyVAP program, together with Proton, has plenty of room to improve.
The biggest weakness of the program, and also the biggest question mark of its credibility, is its dependence on third party crash testing data for its evaluation process, even though the said data was obtained from procedures performed to international crash testing standards. The final piece of the MyVAP puzzle will come when MIROS has the ability to generate all these necessary data independently.
For now, the MyVAP remains a program in its infancy. It’s a small step in the right direction, but it still has some way to go before it becomes an assessment which consumers would bet their lives on.
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