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A truck model may earn a top safety rating, but that doesn't necessarily mean every truck sold has the same safety features. The new SAFER-connected partner project SAFIRA Score aims to close that gap, helping transport buyers verify the safety of the actual vehicles they rely on. The project also marks an important next step for research initiated through SAFER's Idea Exploration Program.

Euro NCAP's Safer Trucks program has made it easier to compare the safety performance of heavy trucks. But there is a catch. Ratings apply to truck models and tested configurations, while many advanced safety features remain optional when individual vehicles are ordered.

For transport buyers wanting to make safety a requirement rather than an ambition, this creates a practical problem: how do you know what safety technology is actually installed in the truck delivering your goods?

From safety ratings to real-world safety requirements
The new partner project SAFIRA Score (Safety Assessment for Fleets – Independent Rating & Assurance) sets out to answer that question. Building on Euro NCAP's methodology, the project will develop and validate an independent assessment of individual trucks, based on their actual safety specifications and vehicle identification numbers (VIN). The ambition is to establish a practical certification approach using Bronze, Silver and Gold levels, with the potential to later include transport operators' organisational safety work. The method will be tested on real trucks and in a real procurement situation together with Dagab, the project's needs owner.

The potential impact goes well beyond individual vehicles. By making safety performance measurable and verifiable, transport buyers can become a stronger driving force for the uptake of safety technology across the heavy transport sector.

It started with a question about technology – and people
SAFIRA Score builds on AuST – Acceptance for use of Safety Technology, a feasibility study financed through SAFER's Idea Exploration Program and carried out by Scania CV and Guidance to Zero.

AuST investigated how fleet managers and truck drivers understand, accept and use active safety systems. One finding stood out: having safety technology available does not automatically mean that its full safety potential is realised. The study identified important information gaps between manufacturers, fleet managers and drivers. Safety features were not always sufficiently explained, drivers were not necessarily involved when vehicles were delivered, and knowledge about how systems function – and how to use them correctly – did not always reach the people behind the wheel. The conclusion was that better safety requires more than advanced technology. It also depends on informed purchasing decisions, communication, trust, training and follow-up.

SAFIRA Score takes that insight a step further. While AuST explored the gap between available technology and its practical use, SAFIRA Score focuses on another critical part of the same challenge: making the safety equipment actually installed in individual trucks visible, verifiable and relevant in transport procurement.

This progression illustrates the value of SAFER's Idea Exploration Program. A relatively small collaborative study can generate new knowledge, reveal opportunities and provide a foundation for further research and innovation. In this case, the work has helped pave the way for a new Vinnova-funded project with clear potential for practical implementation.

Collaboration where safety decisions are made
SAFIRA Score brings together Valma Safety AB, Dagab, Tesoda Solutions AB and Guidance to Zero, connecting safety expertise, technology development and the perspective of a major transport buyer. The project will also benefit from the wider SAFER network through research input, dialogue with vehicle manufacturers and opportunities to engage additional transport buyers and hauliers.

The link to occupational safety is equally important. With a substantial proportion of road fatalities in Europe connected to work, safer heavy transport is not only a road safety issue – it is also a workplace safety issue. The ambition is not simply to create another rating system. It is to give those purchasing transport services a practical way to demand, verify and ultimately contribute to safer vehicles on our roads.

Project facts

Project: SAFIRA Score – validating a business model for traffic safety certification of heavy transport

Period: 16 October 2026 – 15 May 2027

Coordinator: Valma Safety AB

Partners: Valma Safety, Dagab, Tesoda Solutions AB, Guidance to Zero

Funding: Vinnova, through FFI

Budget: Approx. SEK 730,000, including in-kind contributions (Vinnova grant approx. SEK 500,000)

SAFER connection: Builds on AuST – Acceptance for use of Safety Technology, financed through SAFER's Idea Exploration Program (2026)