For the second year in a row Euro Ncap has judged the What Van? Safety Award and for the second year in a row it has handed the prize to the Ford Transit Courier. As the saying goes: “If it aint broke, don’t fix it.”
Ford has taken the lead in developing safety systems for vans, with Euro Ncap saying the medium-sized Transit Custom gave its smaller sibling a close run for its money. It gave both vans a Platinum safety rating, a level of excellence Euro Ncap also accorded to the Transit and Transit Connect models.
Other vans to achieve the top rating were the Maxus eDeliver 5, the Mercedes trio, the Citan, Sprinter and Vito, the Nissan Interstar and its stablemate the Renault Master and Volkswagen’s Caddy Cargo and ID. Buzz Cargo.
An indication of how van safety standards, which historically lagged behind those of passenger cars, have improved in recent years, partly thanks to Euro Ncap’s testing regime that it introduced in 2021 and updated in 2023, is that all the other models included in its latest list achieved the next-best Gold rating.
The Courier Euro Ncap tested was the 1.0-litre GTDI Ecoboost petrol. It praised the standard-fit autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system, which includes forward collision warning and performed well in tests when reacting to other vehicles. Against slower moving and stationary objects, the AEB enabled the Courier to avoid a collision in almost all scenarios. Tests found the system excelled in its ability to detect vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians. Euro Ncap awarded the Courier maximum points in all tests involving pedestrians, save for in reversing. In its reaction to cyclists, the Courier achieved almost full marks.
The Courier’s lane keeping assist system gently corrects the vehicle’s path if it drifts out of lane and intervenes more aggressively in more critical situations, if the van is in danger of leaving the road or colliding with other vehicles. The system was found to be able to respond to a variety of markings, including solid or dashed lines and could even detect unmarked road edges. Euro Ncap awarded the van’s lane support safety assist system a score of 20/20.
Ford offers a blind spot monitoring alert with the Courier as an option. The van features a camera combined with digital mapping to determine local speed limits and the information is presented to the driver via the dashboard and a speed limiter can be set manually or by the vehicle itself.
The Courier provides a seatbelt reminder for both the driver and passenger while a monitoring system uses steering wheel input to assess whether the driver is fatigued. If behaviour characteristics of tiredness is detected, it advises the driver to take a rest.
Euro Ncap praised the Courier’s all-round safety performance and commended the amount of safety kit available across all trim levels, most of which is provided as standard.
“With the same crash-avoidance technology as its passenger car counterparts, the Transit Courier easily meets Euro Ncap’s requirements for a Platinum rating,” said the crash test body. A spokesperson for Euro Ncap added: “Ford is prioritising safety in [its] van design.”
