The Chinese BYD Atto 3, which i.a. sold in Denmark, dumps European Euro NCAP'S test of active safety systems.
BYD Atto 3 fails in Euro NCAP's latest safety test, where the Chinese electric car's active safety systems are assessed as insufficient.
The test, which Euro NCAP carries out annually, has an increasing focus on the safety of modern cars, and the requirements have been steadily tightened. This time, the test shows that the BYD Atto 3 does not live up to expectations.
The BYD Atto 3 earns a low rating due to a number of critical shortcomings in its assistant systems. Among the problems is that the car's adaptive cruise control cannot detect and react quickly enough to stationary vehicles, which can create dangerous situations in traffic.
This is stated by the security institute in a press release .
In addition, the car has difficulty reading road signs correctly, which can result in potential errors in speed readings and other warnings that would otherwise improve driver safety.
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Euro NCAP's test methods focus in particular on the car's ability to create a stable and predictable interaction between the assistance systems and the driver.
Systems that effectively contribute to safety without disturbing the driver unnecessarily are rated higher. In the current test, the BMW i5 and Mercedes C-Class achieved the highest rating at the level of "very good", while the VW ID.7 and Volvo EC40 were rated as "good".
Since 2020, Euro NCAP has included testing of active safety systems as a regular part of the assessment of new cars. The test particularly examines three key aspects of car safety:
- First, it is assessed how well the car stays in the middle of the lane on curved motorway sections, where the systems can help keep the course in turns.
- Next, the car's ability to decode the traffic situation and react to avoid accidents is assessed. It may be slowing down when the car approaches a convoy that is standing still or moving slowly, or when another car suddenly changes lanes in front. The system's ability to warn the driver and brake in such situations is assessed as part of this category.
- Finally, the car's reading of speed signs and ability to detect other road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are tested.
The latest Euro NCAP assessment of the BYD Atto 3 emphasizes that the Chinese cars still face a number of challenges. Especially when it comes to security.
It is not the first time that a Chinese car brand has made a mistake in connection with a demonstration of what should have been safe.
In 2015, when Volvo Cars wanted to demonstrate how safe their emergency brake was for pedestrians, the test car plowed directly into several invited journalists.
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