An empty car body on a test rig in a brightly lit laboratory or test track with rows of overhead lights.

Active & Passive Safety

Active and passive safety are two fundamental aspects of vehicle safety design, focused on preventing accidents and minimizing injuries in the event of a collision.

Advancing Road Safety

Over the past few decades, technological advancements have significantly enhanced road safety, providing greater protection for both vehicle occupants and vulnerable road users.

Vehicle safety design centers on two key elements: active and passive safety. Active safety involves technologies and systems that help prevent or reduce the severity of accidents before they occur, such as emergency braking. Passive safety, on the other hand, includes features that protect occupants during and after a collision, like seat belts, airbags, crumple zones, and reinforced structures.

A crash test dummy with a seatbelt and sensors on its limbs, positioned on a seat in a test environment. The background is blurred, indicating motion or high speed.

Comprehensive Passive Safety Expertise

Two cars, one brown and one grey, colliding head-on in a crash test. The fronts of both vehicles are heavily deformed, and the airbags are visibly deployed. Both vehicles feature black and yellow markings.

UTAC delivers a full suite of passive safety testing services to ensure vehicles meet the highest safety standards. Our facilities include two dedicated crash test sites for full-scale vehicle impacts and two advanced sled systems for detailed component testing and crash simulations. We also offer specialized test benches for seatbelt anchorage and pedestrian protection evaluations.

A side view of a white compact car with visible Euro NCAP logos on its side, captured at the moment of impact. The front of the vehicle is deformed and an airbag has deployed.

Our extensive range of anthropomorphic dummies, supported by dedicated characterization benches, allows for accurate and consistent injury assessment. Additional capabilities include static rollover testing, material flammability evaluation, electric vehicle battery safety with a battery rollover tray, and impact testing on components using a drop tower covering every aspect of passive safety.

Two technicians, a woman in the foreground and a man sitting in a partially assembled car, inspecting components of a car body mounted on a test rig. Racks with testing equipment are visible in the background.

Leading Active Safety Testing Capabilities

A test scene on a road, showing a silver SUV rolling towards a stationary test dummy, seen from behind, wearing a black torso and blue trousers. The scene takes place outdoors with trees in the background.

As France’s only Euro NCAP-accredited center for active safety, UTAC offers unrivaled expertise and infrastructure for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) evaluation. Our 12 km of calibrated test tracks, fully correlated with simulation data, provide diverse environments including motorway, urban, road circuits, parking areas, and specialized ADAS surfaces.

A test scene on a road, showing a silver SUV approaching a stationary test dummy on a bicycle. The scene takes place under a cloudy sky with trees in the background.

State-of-the-art equipment such as high-precision D-GPS, driving robots, synchronized propulsion, and ISO-compliant moving targets (adult and child pedestrians, cyclists, motorbikes, scooters, and animals) enable realistic, repeatable testing. Coupled with our proprietary analytical tools and warning detection systems, UTAC ensures accurate data interpretation and scenario consistency.

Interior view of a vehicle during a test drive, with extensive measurement equipment installed on the steering wheel and the passenger seat. A laptop displaying technical data is also visible.

ADAS Systems Tested

We rigorously test a wide range of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), including Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), Lane Support Systems (LSS), and Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS).

Aerial view of a large test facility with multiple roadways and water basins, surrounded by trees and green areas. In the foreground, a round building with a green roof can be seen.

State-of-the-Art TEQMO Test Surface

The 38,800 m² flat testing area at the TEQMO center features diverse driving scenarios such as junctions, S-bends, and sharp turns. Equipped for night testing, it also includes road surfaces with varying friction levels and markings to simulate real-world conditions.