Euro NCAP Says Three of Seven City Delivery Trucks Fall Short; MAN TGL Gets Five Stars

Euro NCAP has published safety ratings for seven 12-tonne city distribution trucks at the Smart City Expo in Barcelona. It warns that nearly half of them are not safe enough for city streets. The DAF XB, Isuzu F-Series and Iveco Eurocargo all missed its CitySafe standard. CitySafe goes to trucks that combine good driver visibility, hazard alerts and advanced automatic braking.

The results

• MAN TGL: five stars, CitySafe. It scored 89% for Safe Driving and, according to Automotive World, a group-best 71% for Crash Avoidance. It is MAN's first five-star truck.
• Volvo FL and Renault Trucks D: four stars, CitySafe. The two share a platform and each scored 78% in Safe Driving and 62% in Crash Avoidance.
• Mercedes-Benz Atego: four stars, CitySafe. It scored 77% in Safe Driving. Euro NCAP notes that no camera monitoring system is offered.
• DAF XB: three stars, no CitySafe. It scored 66% in Safe Driving and 36% in Crash Avoidance, partly because it has no Cyclist Nearside Turn protection.
• Isuzu F-Series: two stars, no CitySafe. It had the best direct vision of the group but scored 29% in Crash Avoidance. This is Isuzu's first Euro NCAP evaluation.
• Iveco Eurocargo: two stars, no CitySafe. It scored 58% in Safe Driving and a group-low 20% in Crash Avoidance, with no points for pedestrian and cyclist frontal protection.

The missing feature

None of the tested trucks was available with lane keep assistance. Automotive World reports that Matthew Avery, Euro NCAP's director of strategic development, called this an unacceptable gap, since these trucks move constantly between highways, suburbs and city centres.

Automotive World also points to a difference among the four-star trucks. The cyclist turn-assist systems on the Volvo FL and Renault Trucks D only act once the driver signals, while the MAN's works without the indicator on.