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

Tens of thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of injuries could be avoided each year in the world if all countries would apply the safety standards outlined in the UN regulations developed by the World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations.

This was the conclusion of the study recently released by the Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP) which showed that millions of new cars sold in middle and low income countries fail to meet the UN's basic front and side crash tests.

In order to further raise awareness on this situation, UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) and Global NCAP are displaying two crashed cars at the Palais des Nations, in Geneva this week, on the occasion of the 66th session of the Economic Commission for Europe.

After a frontal impact test at 64kph, one car scores zero stars, with a very serious risk of fatal injury while the other achieves five stars, which provides a high level of occupant protection. The two cars illustrate the importance that crash tests play in ensuring road safety and the different levels of safety between cars sold in emerging markets and in advanced economies.

"We cannot accept that cars sold in middle and low income countries be deliberately less safe than those sold in developed countries," said UNECE executive secretary Christian Friis Bach. "I therefore call on the motor industry as a whole to ensure that well-established safety standards be applied to all vehicles sold worldwide. I also urge all UN member States to ratify and fully apply the UN legal instruments on road safety, in particular the UN technical regulations for the construction of vehicles."
David Ward, Global NCAP secretary general, said: "By the end of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) at the latest we want all new cars to meet basic standards for both crash protection and crash avoidance. They must have crumple zones, airbags, and electronic stability control. Our latest report sets out ten clear recommendations to meet this deadline, and we are convinced that this timetable is both realistic and affordable."

Every year, 1.24 million people die on the world's roads and some 50 million people are injured. 80% of the deaths take place in middle-income countries and 12% in low-income countries, even though together they count for approximately only half of the world's vehicles.

The World Forum has for over 50 years negotiated and adopted UN vehicle regulations aimed at reinforcing car safety. These cover, among others:

- The safety performance of vehicle for front and side impacts (UN Regulations Nos. 94 and 95),
- Pedestrian safety (UN Regulation No. 129)
- The safety of electric vehicles and their high-voltage batteries (UN Regulation No. 100).

 Find out the UN regulations developed by World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations