The new Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) 2026 protocols are set for the next three years, with simpler rules designed to be more effective.
Developed in collaboration with the European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP), the updated ANCAP protocols move from what safety regulators describe as a “box-ticking” system to a “tiered safety” approach.
“This is not a cosmetic update, it is a meaningful step forward,” ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg said at an event they attended in Europe Daily Sparkz.
“Vehicle safety does not begin and end with a crash test. Before an accident, systems should help prevent it; during an accident, the vehicle must protect the occupants and vulnerable road users around it; and after an accident, systems must help emergency services respond quickly and effectively.”
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The four safety levels are safe driving, accident avoidance, accident protection and post-crash.
Each level is awarded 100 points, with set minimum thresholds required in each level for a vehicle to receive an overall five-star safety rating.
The first test under the 2026 ANCAP protocols is expected to take place in April/May, with the first assessment expected to be published in July.
“This new approach reflects the entire course of an accident event,” said Ms. Hoorweg.
“It better reflects the complexity of modern vehicles and makes the rating system more understandable for consumers.
“Our goal remains unchanged. Our mission is to reduce deaths and serious injuries on Australian and New Zealand roads and that goal is behind every protocol, every test, every assessment we publish.
“But the vehicles we evaluate today are very different from those we tested just ten years ago. Vehicles are increasingly software-defined; they rely on sensors, algorithms and connectivity.
“The 2026 Protocols respond directly to this change. They ensure our assessments reflect modern vehicle architecture and real-world crash patterns we see on our roads.”
Level 1: Safe Driving – Reducing dependency on touchscreens
The first phase will examine systems designed to promote good driver behavior and reduce the risk of a collision, such as drowsiness monitoring and preventative driver assistance systems (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, ADAS).
This includes “distraction by design,” such as whether important functions are hidden in touchscreen menus and made difficult to access – an echo of consumer complaints about the move away from physical buttons.
“Driver monitoring systems must actually be able to detect distraction and fatigue, and speed assistance systems must demonstrate both accuracy and meaningful driver engagement,” said Ms. Hoorweg.
In addition, speed limit detection systems are being evaluated more comprehensively in the field using new test methods, with cars in Europe being tested in several countries due to different signage designs.
“Vehicles are assessed against road signs and driving environments that reflect conditions in Australia and New Zealand – the accuracy of these systems is essential if they are to truly support safer driving,” she said.
“For manufacturers, this means a higher technical standard is required to achieve a five-star rating under ANCAP protocols.”
Level 2: Accident prevention – focus on real-world ADAS performance
Driving experience is now a factor in obtaining a five-star ANCAP rating, with penalties for intrusive or poorly calibrated safety systems that do more harm than good.
“A key focus of the 2026 protocols is the real-world behavior of driver assistance systems,” said Ms. Hoorweg.
In addition to driver monitoring systems, ANCAP will assess the sensitivity and effectiveness of forward collision warning systems (FCW), autonomous emergency braking systems (AEB) and lane support systems (LSS).
The new protocols test whether these systems work as well at night and in rain as they do in daylight, and whether they can detect vulnerable road users such as road workers wearing high-visibility clothing.
“Through extensive research, ANCAP has been instrumental in examining how baseline systems behave when drivers actually use them, and the insights from this work are now feeding directly into the common test criteria for 2026.”
The protocols also measure how quickly the steering responds when lane assist is activated, how much driver input is required to override an unwarranted intervention, and how aggressively the vehicle moves within a lane.
“Because driver assistance systems have to do exactly that – support the driver – and not surprise them or compete with them,” said Ms. Hoorweg.
They also assess whether a vehicle can detect and prevent pedal misuse when a driver unintentionally presses the accelerator pedal instead of the brake.
Another focus is on protecting pedestrians and cyclists, preventing accidents at intersections and driver monitoring systems.
Level 3: Accident protection
This phase focuses on the physical crash structure of a vehicle and includes a more comprehensive assessment of different body types and a wider range of crash scenarios.
“Structural crash protection remains the foundation of occupant safety,” said Ms. Hoorweg.
“Working with ANCAP early on will continue to help manufacturers meet these expectations and deliver better results.”
If a seat or a seat rail fails – as in the MG 3 crash test in 2025 – there will automatically be a 50 percent point deduction in this category, so that a five-star rating is effectively impossible.
In rollover scenarios, vehicles must ensure that the curtain airbags remain inflated long enough to provide protection throughout the crash.
The full-width frontal crash test now uses a deformable barrier instead of a rigid wall, allowing for better analysis of airbag performance. There are also more occupants included, with an additional dummy in the passenger seat.
The frontal offset test includes two adult and two child dummies, with the previous “male” driver dummy being replaced by a smaller “female” occupant.
“Child safety remains at the heart of our program and ANCAP continues to conduct crash tests on the child restraint systems introduced in Australia and New Zealand to ensure the protection provided to passengers reflects how families actually travel,” Ms Hoorweg said.
Stage 4: Post-Crash
The final phase examines what happens after an accident, with a focus on the “golden hour” of response from emergency services and vehicle systems.
These include multi-collision braking, easy or difficult occupant rescue (including issues such as power door handles), and rescue guides for electric vehicles (EVs) to minimize the risk of electrocution.
“We are strengthening our assessment to promote eCall (emergency call systems) in the Australian and New Zealand markets,” Ms Hoorweg said.
“These are markets where there is currently no regulatory requirement for contact with emergency services following an accident.”
Europe introduced eCall systems in 2018, which automatically contact emergency services in the event of a collision.
The 2026 Protocols also examine the fire risks of electric vehicles – to both occupants and first responders – including whether high-voltage batteries ignite, how warnings are communicated to occupants, and how incidents are reported externally.
“Working with manufacturers and suppliers means the protocols continue to be based on real solutions to the collective road safety issues we all face,” said Ms Hoorweg.
Euro NCAP technical director Richard Schram said the new protocols were designed to be easier for consumers to understand.
“What consumers want is more transparency; they want to know how these systems work and they want to have trust in these systems,” Mr Schram said.
“This is truly a game changer in safety where we are expanding our scope and making life harder for manufacturers to ensure they deliver safe vehicles.”
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