July 18, 2022 – Vehicle safety testing has to evolve to keep up with the times. Australian testing authority ANCAP is making a surprising change to its crash test criteria: Starting in January 2023, it will test new vehicles on how well they perform underwater.
ANCAP’s testing requires that vehicle occupants be able to open the doors and roll down electric windows for up to 10 minutes after the car is submerged. Automakers with vehicles that don’t meet the new standards must provide a way for occupants to break or manually open the side windows.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see a similar standard come to the United States. Vehicle safety testing criteria are updated somewhat regularly to include new tech and vehicle features, so it’s likely only a matter of time before we see similar testing.