Earlier this year at the eSafety Challenge, Euro NCAP announced that it was launching its Advanced awards in response to the rapid development of new technologies available when buying cars for which there is no independent assessment.

By rewarding advanced technologies, Euro NCAP says that it's now providing an incentive to car manufacturers to accelerate the standard fitment of important safety equipment across their model ranges as well as offering more comprehensive guidance to consumers about the safety of new cars, helping them to make the right purchase decision.

The first set of manufacturers awarded for their efforts in their development of new safety features are:

• Audi – Side Assist

• BMW – Assist Advanced eCall

• Honda – Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS)_

• Mercedes-Benz – PRE-SAFE and PRE-SAFE Brake

• Opel – Eye

• Peugeot – Connect SOS

• Citroen – Localized Emergency Call

• Volkswagen – Lane Assist

• Volvo – City Safety

Euro NCAP Advanced is open to any technical system that has a proven safety benefit, whether it is primary, secondary or tertiary, as long as it is available as an option on one of the Euro NCAP tested cars and not already addressed by the current star rating. The overall rating consists of an independent verification of a car by Euro NCAP based on crash tests and published protocols. In addition, Euro NCAP Advanced requires manufacturers to identify exactly what the safety impact of their technology may be in European countries, taking into consideration the different infrastructure, jurisdictions and at times driver behaviour.

Car manufacturers have greeted the new initiative, which raises awareness of significant systems offering a safety benefit. Ivan Hodac, secretary-general of ACEA, the auto industry’s Brussels-based trade association, said: 'Advanced safety systems are an important feature in our cars and the awards will help provide our customers with essential information about the new technologies and the expected life-saving benefits. The auto industry has worked closely with Euro NCAP to develop the new test protocol, and we will continue bringing in new candidate technologies for future assessment.'

Dr van Ratingen of Euro NCAP said: 'Carmakers were involved in the development of the process and were very keen to get their systems into the assessment. We ended up having almost too many dossiers to cope with and we have more coming up in the next months, which is a clear sign that the industry is actively driving safety improvements, even when green cars are top on the agenda.'

Euro NCAP has said that in the future, the Advanced rating will be able to use the methodology to assess completely new technologies, tackling areas of safety that have not yet been addressed.