Ford pulls ahead in child safety awards from Euro NCAP

Ford Focus: Ford's new Focus C-MAX is t, the crash-testing organisation

Ford Focus: Ford's new Focus C-MAX is t, the crash-testing organisation.In the latest round of testing Euro NCAP also announced that the Renault Scenic and VW Touran both achieved five stars for occupant protection.

Apart from Audi and Mazda, all of the manufacturers have met the requirements of Euro NCAP's new seat belt reminder protocol. Euro NCAP's star rating is based on occupants being belted, thus seat belt reminder systems are vitally important. Renault had further reason to celebrate as its Kangoo achieved four stars for occupant protection.

It's the first van-derived car to be tested in the programme and scored 26 points out of a possible 37. The dashboard's energy absorption characteristics received particular mention from the testers.

However, it's not all been good news in the latest results.

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The organisation said the number of manufactures scoring only one or two stars for pedestrian protection is still very disappointing.