Continental partners Global NCAP in safety campaign, focus on emerging markets

Automotive supplier and tyre manufacturer Continental, through its Chassis & Safety and Tyre Divisions, is partnering Global NCAP ‘Stop the Crash’ information campaign.

‘Stop The Crash’ is an initiative of Global NCAP, the London, UK-based umbrella body of the worldwide NCAP consumer organisations for new-car safety testing. ANCAP, ASEAN NCAP, China NCAP, Euro NCAP, Japan NCAP, Korea NCAP, Latin NCAP and US NCAP and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), define the standards that vehicles must meet to be awarded top safety rating of five stars.

In Europe, crash avoidance and mitigation systems such as adult and child occupant protection systems, pedestrian protection systems and assistance systems such as Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Autonomous Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS), and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems are a basic requirement for achieving this rating.

 “We have been pursuing our long-term strategy ‘Vision Zero’ for many years. With innovations and by continuously refining and improving our components and systems, we are playing a leading part in the drive to improve road safety. We see ‘Vision Zero’ as comprising three successive stages: of paramount importance is the avoidance of any traffic fatalities, then reducing the number of injuries to zero. Are there no more accidents at all, we have fulfilled our ‘Vision Zero’,” said Frank Jourdan, member of the Executive Board of Continental AG and president of the Chassis & Safety Division.

“Since seatbelts, ESC, tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) and AEBS for commercial vehicles became mandatory, the total number of road traffic fatalities, injuries and accidents has declined significantly. That said, the annual toll of more than 1.2 million people killed on the world’s roads every year is still shockingly high and not acceptable. We must make a concerted effort to reduce these numbers.”

“We are delighted to be partnering with Continental in this new initiative to promote crash avoidance systems and tyre safety. To achieve the United Nation’s target to cut by half road fatalities by 2020 we need to strongly promote the fitment of ESC, AEBS, and ABS in motorcycles especially in the rapidly motorising countries of Asia and Latin America. Our campaign aims to raise awareness of these life-saving technologies. If we can accelerate their use, we will make faster progress towards a world increasingly free from road fatalities,” stated David Ward, General Secretary from Global NCAP.

FOCUS ON INDIA, CHINA, MALAYSIA & MEXICO
Throughout the ‘Stop the Crash’ campaign, Global NCAP and its partners, including Continental, will be holding driving demonstrations to raise awareness of the benefits of safety technologies that are already being volume-produced and to encourage their adoption in subcompact and compact models too.

The regional focus will be on densely populated developing countries, where large numbers of vehicles are sold in these vehicle segments. In terms of vehicle technology, the focus will be on ESC, AEBS, and motorcycle ASB, while on the tyre side the importance of adequate tyre pressure and tread depth will be highlighted. 

“Tyres are the sole point of contact between the vehicle and the road. All forces transmitted to the road are put down via a footprint no bigger than the size of a postcard. In a critical situation, it is the tyre that determines whether the vehicle can stop in time – or whether it stays safely on course through a corner. This is why we want to inform as many drivers as possible, all over the world, about the safety benefits of using high-tech tyres inflated to the correct pressure and with adequate tread depth,” says Nikolai Setzer, member of the Executive Board of Continental AG and president of the Tyre Division. “From now on, we will be positioning the technology-oriented Continental premium tyre brand even more closely around the long-term goal ‘Vision Zero’, an area in which Continental as a company stands to benefit from synergies among its broad portfolio of safety technologies.”

Continental expects the twice-yearly ‘Stop the Crash’ demonstration events in countries such as China, India, Malaysia, and Mexico, to raise awareness of the benefits of state-of-the-art safety systems, and of tire-related topics. The aim is to achieve a further significant improvement in global road safety and further steady reductions in the number of traffic fatalities, injuries, and accidents. 

The Global NCAP ‘Stop the Crash’ campaign will be officially launched on November 18, 2015, with a driving demonstration to coincide with the second Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety. 

Also read: UNECE & GNCAP call for worldwide adherence to UN car safety norms by 2020