UN Secretary-General Asks GA For A More Comprehensive Approach To Vehicle Safety
The UN Secretary-General’s latest report on road safety for the General Assembly has highlighted the growing role of Global NCAP and the need for more comprehensive safety legislation.
The report was prepared in partnership with the World Health Organization, the United Nations regional commissions and other partners of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration. It provides an update on the recommendations contained in a number of key General Assembly resolutions.
Outlining the scale of the challenge facing the UN in The Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020), the report stated: “An estimated 1.24 million lives were lost in 2010 as a result of road traffic crashes, of which 80 per cent were in middle-income countries. This is where 72 per cent of the world’s population lives but where only half of the world’s registered vehicles are owned and driven. Comprehensive safety laws cover only 7 per cent of the world’s population.”
Referring directly to Global NCAP’s role in the promotion of safer vehicles, the report stated: “The Global New Car Assessment Programme was launched in 2011 to serve as a platform for cooperation for new car assessment programmes and to encourage their development in all regions of the world especially among rapidly motorizing countries.”
“At the 2013 Annual Meeting of Global NCAP in Seoul in May 2013 the Seoul Declaration was adopted. It called for global agreement that all new passenger cars worldwide should pass the minimum United Nations crash test standards (ECE regulations 94 and 95) and encouraged early adoption of the global technical regulations for electronic stability control and for pedestrian protection.”
The report went on to highlight the results of NCAP testing in Latin America: “The Latin American New Car Assessment Programme (Latin NCAP) has now tested 28 vehicle models. Results reveal levels of safety among many of the region’s top-selling cars that are 20 years behind those achieved in Europe and North America. Lack of airbags and poor body-shell integrity are the main causes of the poor star ratings achieved.”
In the report’s conclusions, the UN Secretary General recommends: “Much more needs to be done to meet the goal of the Decade of Action. A more systematic approach needs to be taken to address road safety issues. It is recommended that the General Assembly call on Member States to develop comprehensive national road safety legislation and regulations, in order to reach the target, set by the General Assembly, of 50 per cent of Member States with adequate legislation.
“The General Assembly may also wish to encourage Member States to participate in new car assessment programmes in order to foster availability of consumer information about the safety performance of motor vehicles.”
Global NCAP’s Secretary General, David Ward, commented: “Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s report is a very welcome endorsement of Global NCAPs work promoting consumer crash test programmes in all world regions.”
YOUTUBE
