I'm guessing that if a HGV / Van / Car hits you from behind at 70mph while you are in the car and stationery, your chances of survival are nil. Can't see what could be done to car designs to protect the occupants.

Smart motorways are death traps, pure and simple. It may be enlightening to those i****s who sanction these ideas to watch a few slow motion hi res videos of people dying in such scenarios, an NCAP video with test crash dummies would probably be good too.

The fuel isn't the only factor, what the car is made of and components makes a difference too - a former colleague's Jag had magnesium parts and a small fire (not sure what started it) in a motorway tunnel quickly became a raging inferno that burnt the car to the shell.

It was a diesel-engined car.

Design and positioning of the fuel tank, lines and engine components (including cooling systems) and maintenance car also play a role in whether a crash ends in a runaway blaze, as obviously the types of accident, which the driver and others involved play just as much a role as the car itself.

I wonder how much fuel cars having their NCAP test actually carry, if any? If they also do not test rear-end/corner (of the fuel tank inlet) crashes, then perhaps they should be. WIth hybrids and EVs, perhaps that would need to be modified to account for the relative position of their battery packs, and - for all vehicles - factors like ambient temperature and direct heat via sunlight.

Remember all those Lambos and perhaps other sports cars spontaneously catching fire and burning to a cinder in hot weather a few years ago?