What is Thatcham? Thatcham approved devices and crash tests explained

When researching car security systems, you may have seen the phrase ‘Thatcham approved’ make an appearance, but what does a town in Berkshire have to do with vehicle safety and security? Towards the end of the 1960s, a group of British car insurers joined forces and founded the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre in the small Berkshire town. However, MIRRC wasn’t a particularly catchy acronym, so it eventually became known simply as ‘Thatcham’.
Flash forward to t