Euro NCAP has announced its top 10 list of safest vans, recognising those vehicles that have made huge strides in improving safety.

Euro NCAP’s list of the top 10 performers recognises those at the forefront of safety developments

The vehicle safety assessment scheme is judging the Safety Award for the 2024 What Van Awards in the UK and its shortlist of the top 10 performers – which includes the Ford Transit Courier and the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter – puts them in the running for this all-important accolade.

Euro NCAP has been publishing safety ratings since 2020 and has tested around 95% of the European market vans to date. Its findings show that while the number of new commercial vans on European roads has increased by 23% compared with pre-pandemic levels, safety systems seen on cars are not always fitted on vans due to the price sensitivity of this vehicle segment.

Not all commercial vans offer the latest ADAS functionalities, such as pedestrian and cyclist detection. Some vans offer lane support systems, blind spot detection, lane departure warning or lane keep assist. Speed assist technology, if present, is mostly manual set and lacking a speed limit information function. Seat belt reminders are mostly standard for driver but absent for front passengers.

That’s despite the fact that vans tend to have a more severe outcome for their opponent crash partner, with an over-representation of deaths and serious injuries, although they don’t necessarily have a higher crash rate than other vehicles. And with many of these van crashes occurring in city and urban areas, the protection of vulnerable road users is paramount.

Euro NCAP’s list of the top 10 performers in the competition for the What Van Awards 2024 recognises those at the forefront of safety developments. All vans have either achieved a Platinum, Gold, or Silver, rating under Euro NCAP’s independent safety assessment. Vans are considered and judged for their market availability, standard vs optional fit of safety systems and value for money as well as class-leading safety performance.

In alphabetical order the vans on the shortlist are:

•  Fiat Ducato – 2022
•  Ford Transit – 2021
•  Ford Transit Courier – 2023
•  LEVC VN5 – 2020
•  Mercedes-Benz Sprinter – 2018
•  Mercedes-Benz Vito – 2014
•  Nissan Primastar – 2022
•  Renault Trafic – 2014
•  VW Crafter – 2017
•  VW Transporter – 2019

Michiel van Ratingen, secretary general Euro NCAP, said: “Equipping vehicles in the commercial sector with modern safety solutions and the latest technological developments, is a vital part to the complicated jigsaw of reaching Vision Zero and zero casualties on European roads. How can it be that vans and trucks do not have the same technology that has been available for years on passenger cars? Our collaboration with the What Van Awards 2024 on a Safety Award is just one more way how we can show committed van manufacturers our appreciation for the work they do in pushing forward van safety. This is particularly admirable in the commercial market where the bottom line is the main objective and where safety is not considered as a priority.”

The final winner of the What Van 2024 Safety Award will be revealed on 6 December 2023 at the Hilton Bankside London Hotel.