CRS Performance

More than 1,000 children die in road traffic accidents on European roads each year. Almost half of child fatalities are passengers in motor vehicles.

Euro NCAP recommends all parents to transport their children in age- and size-appropriate child restraint systems.

The vehicle manufacturer is legally obliged to provide information about the use of child restraints on the seating positions in the vehicle. Euro NCAP checks how well different child restraints fit and verifies the protection offered by the recommended child restraints in the event of a front or side crash.

From the beginning, child dummies representing 1½ and 3-year-old children have been placed on the rear seat of the car, in the child restraints recommended by the car manufacturer. In 2016, the test configuration changed and child dummies representing 6- and 10-year-old children, seated on a booster seat or cushion, are used from that time.

Head movement, neck loads, and chest accelerations are the main dummy criteria measured during the tests. The vehicle will be rewarded if test criteria remain low and if neither dummy was ejected from its seat or made any hard contact with the vehicle interior during the crash. This ensures that the child remains correctly restrained during the crash event.

 Introduced in 1997. Upgraded in 2023.