Honda Insight Achieves Top Score for Euro NCAP Crash Tests
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AUTO CENTAL – August 26, 2009: The Insight is in good company, with the Jazz, Civic and Accord all awarded the maximum five star rating since the introduction of the new rating scheme.
Euro NCAP’s new rating scheme focuses on the vehicle’s overall safety performance which gives consumers an easy to understand single score. The new system considers passenger protection during impact to the front, side and rear of the car, and pole (if the car impacts with a tree or other fixed narrow object), child protection and pedestrian protection. The availability of driver safety aids is also considered.
The Euro NCAP rating for Insight reflects Honda’s commitment to passenger and pedestrian safety. ‘Real-world’ safety has always been an important consideration for Honda when developing new models. Honda’s car-to-car crash test facility at the Tochigi R&D plant analyses impacts between models of different sizes and weights and develops solutions to avoid injuries for all parties.
Safety in the Honda Insight:
Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA):
Helps the driver to maintain control during cornering, acceleration and
sudden manoeuvres, by applying braking to the right or left wheels as
necessary and managing the engine torque systems as required.
Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE):
The Insight shell
is a protective cocoon constructed of 42 per cent high tensile steel that
disperses energy produced from a crash – boosting protection for its
passengers by 20 per cent.
The Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body structure is now a well-established feature in Honda’s safety armoury.
Designed to protect passengers in a variety of ‘real-world’ crash conditions, these include: a frontal collision between vehicles of differing heights, weights and frame construction. The ACE body structure of the Insight prevents cabin crumple whilst reducing the chances of vertical or lateral misalignment between the Insight and another vehicle's safety structures. The ACE structure provides exceptional stiffness which also improves side impact protection.
Pedestrian protection:
The Insight is packed with features to
protect pedestrians. Research has shown that these features can
dramatically improve a pedestrian's chance of survival if struck by a
moving vehicle. Features include: windscreen wiper pivots designed to break
away on impact, energy absorbing front wing mounts and bonnet hinges, as
well as a clear area beneath the bonnet to allow it to crumple and absorb
impact.
Active headrests:
The new Insight is also equipped with front
seat active headrests which reduce the likelihood of neck injury in rear
impacts. As the occupant is pushed against the seat back, a rigid plate in
the seat presses a link to the headrest pushing it up and forward to
support the head.
Airbags and seatbelts:
Dual front, side and full-length side
curtain airbags are fitted as standard on all models; the front seatbelts
have load limiting pretensioners. Two ISOFIX fittings in both the left and
right rear seats together with tether anchor points in the rear roof ensure
correct installation and secure child-seat mounting points.
Braking:
The Insight comes with Anti-lock Braking System
(ABS), Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) and Emergency Brake Assist
(EBA).