Skip to main content

UN vehicle regulations ‘could prevent deaths and injuries in Brazil’

A new research report from the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has revealed that 34,000 Brazilian lives could be saved and 350,000 serious injuries prevented by 2030, if UN vehicle safety regulations were adopted and car manufacturers sought to achieve higher ratings in the Latin NCAP crash test programme. Published on the eve of the second High Level Conference on Road Safety in Brazil, the independent study, which was commissioned by Global NCAP, highlights the gap between the regulated vehicl
November 17, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
A new research report from the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (491 TRL) has revealed that 34,000 Brazilian lives could be saved and 350,000 serious injuries prevented by 2030, if UN vehicle safety regulations were adopted and car manufacturers sought to achieve higher ratings in the Latin NCAP crash test programme.

Published on the eve of the second High Level Conference on Road Safety in Brazil, the independent study, which was commissioned by Global NCAP, highlights the gap between the regulated vehicle safety standards in the industrialised regions and Brazil. TRL’s findings closely align with the policy recommendations set out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in their recent Global Status Report on Road Safety.

The new study concludes that Brazil “has started to introduce vehicle safety legislation and Latin NCAP is raising awareness about the importance of car safety and creating consumer based competition to motivate improvements”. However, “to help create an automotive market in Brazil that provides adequate levels of safety, further development of the minimum regulatory standards is required.”

Brazil has clearly made road safety a priority, and supporting much needed legislation will enable them to reach their road safety goals even faster. The report identifies clear regulatory priorities for Brazil including “the need to introduce a side impact crashworthiness test and to mandate for Electronic Stability Control (ESC) to be fitted to every new passenger car.”

The report also sets out a timetable for the adoption of these priorities which “are internationally proven to be cost effective countermeasures that save lives” and that there are clearly “established UN regulations available to apply now.”

Related Content

  • March 26, 2021
    EU offers vision of mobility
    Major changes are in the air for ITS in Europe: José Diez of ERF considers what the European Commission’s newly-released policy strategy for sustainable and smart mobility will mean
  • March 3, 2015
    FIA welcomes eCall type approval legislation
    The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile ( FIA) Region I has welcomed the European Competitiveness Council vote to adopt the eCall type-approval legislation, while also regretting that users will have to wait another three years to benefit from this technology. The legislation mandates emergency call technology as a standard feature in all new vehicles from 2018, which the FIA says will undoubtedly accelerate the deployment of connected car technologies. Within eCall, the European Commission is mandate
  • June 2, 2016
    TISPOL conference sheds new light on VRUs
    Geoff Hadwick reports on TISPOL’s efforts to protect vulnerable road users. At its annual conference in Manchester, TISPOL, the pan-European roads police organisation, called for the better protection of vulnerable road users. The statistics show a worrying trend as, since the turn of the century began, it is only the passenger car sector that is reducing its share of the overall EU fatality stats. Cyclists, motorcyclists and the elderly are all continuing to see their share of the figures worsen.
  • March 21, 2014
    Driver error is no barriers to road safety
    Michael Dreznes, Executive Vice President at the International Roads Federation (IRF), is passionate about the use of the Safe System Approach to make roads more forgiving around the world