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  SAFETY


Renault has an enviable record in terms of designing vehicles that combine style and practicality with industry standard levels of safety. This ongoing philosophy has resulted in many high rating scores in the benchmark Euro NCAP vehicle crash tests.

The Renault Approach

Renault have a fully integrated approach to safety. In normal language, this means bringing together all aspects of prevention, correction, protection and education to ensure that Renault drivers and passengers are amongst the safest on the road.

Prevention

It’s difficult to know what’s ahead, so Renault has designed vehicles that allow the driver to anticipate and avoid hazards that could lead to an accident.


Renault's First Crash Test, 1955

- Audible seat belt reminder (SBR)
- Known as an SBR, (Seat-Belt Reminder), this device warns the driver if they have not fastened their seat belt or if it is
  fastened incorrectly.
- Automatic headlights and wipers
- These systems aim to relieve the driver of routine tasks to allow the driver to give their full attention to the road.

The automatic windscreen wipers are controlled by an infra-red sensor just behind the rear view mirror, which detects the presence of water droplets on the windscreen. The automatic headlights are controlled by a passive light sensor which measures available light using a set of photo-electric cells.

Additional cornering lights

On winding roads, the insides of bends are not illuminated by the headlights and remain in darkness. Additional cornering lights, directed at an angle of 40 to the axis of the car, solve this problem by lighting up the inside of the bend. They are automatically deactivated at high speed or in reverse gear.

Xenon and bi-xenon headlights

Because of their excellent output, xenon lamps deliver a light beam that is more intense than that of halogen lamps, using the same power consumption. Due to this extra power the visibility distance is increased to more than one hundred meters, allowing the driver to better anticipate a risk situation.

Tyre pressure monitoring system

In partnership with one of the biggest names in tyres, Renault has developed a pressure monitoring system which warns the driver of any abnormality such as under-inflation or a puncture, by means of a warning message on the dashboard.

Correction

We all make mistakes so Renault has created a comprehensive range of technology to help correct human error.

Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)

By preventing wheel locking in the event of emergency braking, ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) lets the tyres retain their ability to steer the car. The driver therefore remains in control of the vehicles trajectory.

Emergency Brake Assist

Studies show that, in the event of emergency, less than 30% of drivers fully use the braking capacities of their car. Out of fear of wheel locking, they apply insufficient pressure to the pedal at the start of braking. Emergency Brake Assist compensates for this reluctance by demanding the maximum from the hydraulic system resources at the start of braking.

Anti Slip Regulation (ASR)

To guarantee that the vehicle starts perfectly on a surface offering poor grip, in conditions of ice or snow, for instance, ASR traction control adjusts the distribution of torque between the drive wheels.

Electronic Stability Program (ESP)

Working in close conjunction with the ABS system and using data supplied by seven sensors, dynamic trajectory control, also known as ESP (Electronic Stability Program), assists the driver to retain control of his vehicle in the event of a loss of grip.

Variable Power Steering

Variable Power Steering takes the arm-ache out of manoeuvring and maintains maximum precision at main road and motorway speeds.

Protection

Renault is committed to ensuring that everyone is protected as much as possible in the event of an accident.

Euro NCAP

Euro NCAP is a Brussels based association whose purpose is to conduct very detailed studies of the consequences of car accidents on driver and passengers. The results are interpreted in the form of stars (5 is currently the maximum) which quantify a cars level of safety.

Airbags

Airbags are responsible for protecting the occupants of the vehicle in the event of an impact. After the safety belts have absorbed most of the energy released by the occupant, a pyrotechnic gas generator managed by a computer ensures the airbags inflation. Inflating in 30 thousandths of a second, they reduce the risk of serious head injuries by 75%.

Headrests

The head-restraint plays an essential safety role in the event of a rear collision. If head restraints did not absorb this brutal movement correctly, trauma of the neck vertebrae, known as whiplash could occur.

Automatic roll bars for convertibles

Because of the absence of a roof, the rear-seat passengers of convertibles are particularly exposed in the event of a rollover. To protect them effectively, while preserving the convertible aspect of the car, Renault has developed automatic roll bars that deploy at the start of a rollover.

Child safety system

A childs body is not a small-scale version of an adults body; it is actually very different in terms of flexibility. Until 10 years old, a child must be seated in a specific safety device adapted to their anatomy. Advanced research at Renault has developed Isofix, a standard child safety seat fixing system that remains effective in the event of an impact.

ESME (Expandable Sheet Metal Element), active anti-submarining system

In the event of a frontal impact, the passengers pelvis is subject to slipping under the lap strap of the safety belt: this is called submarining. The belt strap no longer rests on the pelvic bones, which are highly resistant, but on the much more fragile stomach. This situation can produce serious injuries. To eliminate submarining, a specific airbag is placed in the base of the seat and inflates in order to stabilise the pelvis of the passenger.

Pedestrian safety

The theme of safety not only relates to the vehicles passengers, it also concerns all other road users and among them, one group that is particularly vulnerable pedestrians. The shapes and materials that make up the front end of the vehicle bumper, radiator grille and bonnet are designed to limit the seriousness of injuries they may cause to pedestrians in the event of an impact.

Third-generation Renault System for Restraint and Protection (SRP3)

The 3rd generation Renault System for Restraint and Protection (SRP3) takes into account the violence of the impact and the position of the occupants of the vehicle so as to optimise the effectiveness of protection.

Vehicle structure

Renault has, for many years, carried out highly advanced studies on the programmed deformation of the structure of its vehicles. Through this research Renault has developed a process of progressive deformation where the car structure absorbs the majority of the impact. Therefore the stiffened cabin receives less impact energy and behaves as a survival cell.

Rear seat passenger protection

In accordance with its philosophy of Safety for All, Renault ensures that the passengers in the rear seats of its cars have the same level of safety to that of the front seat occupants. Therefore in addition to the traditional rear seat anti-submarining bars, the two side seat safety belts also have pretensioners and load limiters.