Saab Model Range Achieves Five Star Euro NCAP Crash Test Rating
Published: 29th June 2003
Swedish premium car maker Saab has achieved a world first by being the only car manufacturer to achieve a maximum five-star Euro NCAP crash test safety rating across its full model range.
Following on from the five-star new Saab 9-3 achieving the highest individual score yet of any Premium Sector car tested by Euro NCAP (in November 2002), the Saab 9-5 has now also been awarded the maximum five-star Euro NCAP collision test rating.
Euro NCAP first crash tested the Saab 9-5 in 1998, when it was awarded four stars and achieved the highest ever individual test score at the time. Euro NCAP has now upgraded its assessment of the Saab 9-5 as Saab is now installing a new, improved seatbelt reminder system, which starts when the car is driven for 30 seconds at over 15 mph (25 km/h).
The seatbelt reminder begins with a warning chime and a message on the information display telling the car’s occupant(s) to use the seatbelt. If the request is ignored, a louder signal is triggered 30 seconds later for duration of 90 seconds. The system works independently for each front seat occupant, and it also restarts if a belt is unbuckled whilst the car is in motion.
The Saab 9-5 has already been awarded the highest possible rating, five stars, under US NCAP, the American equivalent to Euro NCAP, although a completely different crash procedure is used. It has also been given the highest safety ratings by the American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), and Folksham, the Swedish insurance company. Folksham recently named the Saab 9-5 as Safest Car, 2003, after its research into real road accidents found the 9-5 to be the only car with a safety performance more than 40% higher than the average.
"The fact that the Saab 9-5 has earned the highest safety
ratings in different kinds of consumer crash tests is proof of the
success of Saab’s Real Life Safety philosophy," says
Annika Kindberg, Saab 9-5 crash safety project leader.
