Could truck safety ratings transform road safety in Europe?

Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) make up less than three percent of the European fleet, yet are involved in 15 percent of all road fatalities.

Despite the fatal consequences of collisions involving trucks, independent truck safety ratings have been non-existent until now, and manufacturers in the EU are only bound by the relatively basic safety regulations put in place by the GSR2 introduced in 2022.

Until 20 November, when Euro NCAP launched their new TRUCK SAFE rating programme.

Euro NCAP is the organisation that has been evaluating and rating the safety performance of passenger cars for nearly 30 years, and now also turned its attention to trucks.

The significance of higher safety standards for HGVs is emphasised by Meera Naran, an independent road safety campaigner whose story could not be a more powerful reminder of what exactly is at stake here. On 31 May 2018, she lost her 8-year old son Dev to a fatal collision with a truck on the UK's M6 motorway.

Speaking at Euro NCAP’s TRUCK SAFE programme launch, Naran had a hopeful message: “I cannot overstate the impact this will have on preventing serious injuries and deaths. It will prevent other families from having to go through something like we have — I truly believe that the additional safety features available today could have saved my son Dev.”

Truck Safe Ratings

The additional life-saving features alluded to by Naran exist, but are simply not yet being fitted on every truck. 

Matthew Avery, director of strategic development at Euro NCAP – and leading force behind the Truck Safe assessment programme – explains: “Truck crashes can by and large be addressed with technology. This first set of ratings is entirely focusing on collision avoidance technologies; autonomous emergency braking on behalf of the driver (AEB), driver monitoring systems to try and catch the driver if they are falling asleep, and increased vision with regards to vulnerable road users – a problem we see specifically in cities.”

Euro NCAP applied its safety technology rating methodology on nine different models from one specific HGV sector: long-haul fleet trucks.

“These are the most common trucks on our roads throughout Europe – they are generally on the highways, but you do see them going into cities,” Avery says.

“We tested nine different tractor units across all manufacturers in the long-haul fleet sector. We have DAF, IVECO, MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Scania and Volvo – those make up about 95 percent of all the vehicles.”

Contrary to Euro NCAP’s passenger car safety ratings, the trucks achieve widely differing star ratings with a surprising gap between the least and most safe HGV.

“We basically have a span from 1 to 5 stars, with the 5-star trucks having lots of the technology and the 1-star truck not having anything beyond regulation and having relatively poor vision,” Avery says.

“We knew that a lot of truck makers only provided what’s required by regulation, whereas others are very proud of going above and beyond. But the difference between those two is much bigger than we expected,” he points out. “I think it’s surprising that there is so much difference in the market.”

“Unlike the car makers who know the system – they know how Euro NCAP works, they are investing in technology, they are ensuring that their vehicles are safe way beyond regulation – a lot of the truck manufacturers just look at regulation and wouldn’t expect a consumer rating organisation to look at their vehicles. So it’s quite a shock to some of them that we started doing this at all.”

IVECO, MAN & Mercedes

IVECO, MAN and Mercedes-Benz are three manufacturers that declined the opportunity to provide Euro NCAP with a vehicle for testing. Instead, the manufacturers’ most recent available vehicle was selected and tested for its safety performance.

“We were able to hire vehicles, but of course you are not testing the very latest and greatest,” Avery states. “So the Mercedes, MAN and IVECO we tested would not be as good as their very latest vehicles that you can buy in January 2025, we understand that.”

The IVECO S-WAY receives a 1-star rating, as it offers marginal direct vision and few of the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) features that are considered in the rating.

Both the MAN and Mercedes-Benz models achieved a 3-star rating. The MAN TGX scored well on collision avoidance technologies but with poor direct vision, and the Mercedes-Benz Actros L provided a very good range of crash avoidance technologies, but the performance of some of the functions was limited.

Both IVECO and Mercedes-Benz informed Euro NCAP that the selected model is not representative of the safety performance of their latest generation vehicle, which only became available later in 2024.

“We are making absolutely clear that the manufacturer did not help us and that we got hold of the very latest truck we could hire. We are not trying to confuse or fool anybody, we are being completely open with our test results,” Avery explicitly stated.

Coming back on Mercedes-Benz’s rather disappointing rating, he states: “I’m sure they will get a better score on their latest generation vehicle, but will it be class-leading? As long as we haven’t tested it, we don’t know.”

The rest and the best

Models from DAF, Scania and Renault received between three and four stars, with manufacturers’ spokespeople stating that they’re all aiming for the full five stars on their future models – which only underlines the success of the Euro NCAP’s programme to push truck makers to strive for maximum safety.

Örjan Åslund, head of product affairs at Scania, reacted to the ratings with mixed feelings: “We are happy with this result, but it’s clear for us that as a premium manufacturer we strive and aim for 5 stars of course.”

Volvo’s two tested vehicles received 5-star ratings for combining good vision with excellent driver assistance systems.

“We have the same approach as Euro NCAP has for its requirements,” Anna Wrige, traffic and product safety director at Volvo Trucks, said. “We wanted to create safety systems that can handle a variety of accident types, and that matches with what Euro NCAP is doing.”

“It is a confirmation that we are doing the right thing,” she concludes.

The ratings also included an additional CitySafe accreditation, reserved for the models with the best direct vision and the best collision avoidance technology for urban crash types involving vulnerable road users. Four vehicles received the CitySafe award: both the Volvo FM and FH Aero, the DAF XF and Scania’s G-series.

Impact of the ratings

Avery is very clear about what today’s ratings represent: “Our results reflect the market as it is today, with no influence from Euro NCAP. Manufacturers have not been able to make anything but minor changes to their vehicles since we announced the tests.”

“It’s essentially a good litmus test of where the manufacturers honestly are today. In two years’ time you can expect vehicles being introduced where our ratings have been very influential, but it takes time for those things to really embed themselves.”

The good news is that safety technologies continue to improve. Earlier this year, vehicle technology manufacturer ZF released their most recent advancements in safety technologies for commercial vehicles, bringing an even more advanced range of ADAS features on the market.

Euro NCAP engages with an array of different stakeholders, from fleets and hauliers to highway and city authorities throughout Europe, in order to maximise the TRUCK SAFE ratings’ impact on road safety.

“The big European hauliers tend to buy trucks not in ones and twos, but in hundreds and thousands,” Avery explains. “So you can imagine, if they are making a choice between two different truck manufacturers, this might tip the balance for them. If the trucks are a similar price, there are similar service and maintenance costs, etc – where is the difference? Safety.”

“Also the insurers are very keen,” Avery points out. “Two major insurance companies joined Euro NCAP very recently, QBE and Allianz. Both joined with the specific interest in understanding more closely and influencing the safety of those vehicles.”

Euro NCAP’s ambition is precise: “We’ll create exactly the same tension and competition that we get with the passenger car market.”

Most HGV manufacturers appear to be on the same line, welcoming the efforts to make trucks safer with open arms. “We really greet this initiative from Euro NCAP – we believe this is going to make a major difference over time, influencing the safety of the whole transport industry,” says Scania’s Örjan Åslund.

“I think the consumer power is mighty, and that is what’s going to make a difference, hand-in-hand with the impact of safety regulations,” he continues. “Today is a good start, but we’re going to see a lot more.”

What’s next?

All of this is only the beginning of Euro NCAP’s journey towards safer trucks. “Every year we will be testing new vehicles in new sectors,” concludes Avery.

Meera Naran’s message is crystal clear: “Euro NCAP have demonstrated that we need to go far beyond the basic GSR2 safety regulations. It’s a moral responsibility that manufacturers have to ask themselves how they can contribute to safer roads and cities.”

“Today I’m putting the onus back on the manufacturers and I ask them what they are doing to go one step further. Because we as campaigners and people who are trying to improve road safety around the world are doing our best, but we now need you to step up.”

She concludes on a powerful note: “Globally, road deaths are the leading cause for child mortality and that is simply not acceptable anymore. Ultimately, no matter what anyone says, road deaths are preventable.”