Considered as one of the most stringent crash safety standards in the world, the HR-V was well on its way to a perfect five-star safety rating. However, less than robust seatbelts, particularly for children in the backseat saw its scores drop down a star to four stars.

In Euro NCAP’s own assessment, they noted that the HR-V only offered a “marginal” level of protection during excursions, or the extent to which a body is thrown to the other side of the vehicle when it’s hit from the far side. The same “marginal” rating was given to the HR-V’s protection of rear passenger chests during a frontal collision.

These, however, were not enough to bring the HR-V’s star-rating down. What caused the drop in rating was because the rear seatbelt partially slipped off the shoulders of the 10-year-old crash test dummy. This resulted in the HR-V incurring a penalty. Moreover, during a side impact test, the 10-year-old crash test dummy recorded a “weak” level of protection against side impacts.

These problems aside, the Euro NCAP did note the exemplary performance of the HR-V’s Honda SENSING system. It managed to detect both other vehicles and vulnerable road users (cyclists, pedestrians, etc.) and avoided or mitigated a possible collision in almost all scenarios. Without any sort of rear cross traffic alert or rear automatic braking system it failed the reversing test.

Considering the varying standards of the ASEAN NCAP, there’s little doubt that the all-new HR-V will ace its crash safety test here. However, the Euro NCAP is widely regarded as one of the toughest and most stringent in the world, and this could raise some doubts as to the overall safety of Honda’s new crossover. It must be noted that the Isuzu D-MAX and the Mazda CX-30—both of which are sold in Philippines as well, did manage to achieve a perfect 5-star rating. The CX-30, in particular, bagged a near-perfect score.