Ford Mustang scores disappointing two stars in Euro NCAP testing

[Dani ♡]

                 

he 2017 Ford Mustang has scored a disastrous two stars out of a possible five in Euro NCAP crash testing, making it the least safe car from a mainstream brand since 2012. Ford's new muscle car scored a modest 72% in the adult occupant safety section – lower than any car tested in 2016 – but a disappointing 32% for child occupant safety. These are low scores for a newly-designed car, especially from company like Ford, which usually attains the full five stars for its models in Europe. Ford's decision to omit certain safety features from cars sold in Europe is partially responsible for the low score, according to Thatcham Research, the UK's Euro NCAP centre.

“The car has been designed to score well in less wide-ranging US consumer safety tests and only minor updates have been made to meet required European (pedestrian) safety regulations. “This has resulted in poor adult and child protection scores and the high-tech radar collision warning system that is available to US consumers, not being available here in the UK. The Two Star Euro NCAP rating is the consequence.” But it wasn't just the electronics that disappointed. Ineffective airbags for both driver and front passenger didn't inflate enough to fully protect occupants against an impact. The absence of seatbelt pre-tensioners in the back gave rear passengers poor protection from abdominal injuries, while whiplash protection in the rear seat was also poor.

The most recent car to score so badly was the Lancia Ypsilon, an unpo[CENSORED]r city car from a now-defunct Italian marque. Even the Ypsilon protected its child occupants better in the 2015 test, and matched the Mustang for pedestrian protection. The only mainstream car to have scored two stars was the Jeep Compass in 2012. Euro NCAP acknowledges that buyers ordering a Mustang after May 2017 will receive the updated, facelifted 2018 car, which the organisation says "will be equipped with Pre Collision Assist (with Pedestrian Detection, Forward Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking) and Lane Keeping Aid". Deliveries of the updated, safer cars will begin later this year.