Vehicles in emerging markets are not typically regulated to the same extent as in industrialised regions. Casualty rates are considerably higher in these emerging markets, and the lack of vehicle safety regulation is responsible for at least some of the difference. It is estimated that 10,200 car occupants died in accidents on Brazilian roads in 2010; car user casualties are the focus of this study. With rapid growth in passenger cars forecast in Brazil, the number of road deaths and casualties is expected to rise, unless targeted and efficient interventions, including improvements to the vehicle safety standards for new cars, are urgently initiated. Brazil has started to introduce vehicle safety legislation and the Latin New Car Assessment Programme (Latin NCAP) is raising awareness about the importance of car safety and creating consumer based competition to motivate improvements. However, to ensure the democratisation of international vehicle safety standards to help create an automotive market in Brazil that provides adequate levels of safety, further development of the minimum regulatory standards is required. The priorities for Brazil include 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. These are internationally proven to be cost effective countermeasures that save lives and there are established and harmonised UN Regulations available to apply now. A series of statistical models have been used to predict how many car user deaths and injuries would be prevented in Brazil, if the experiences and lessons learned over the past 20 years in the Europe Union (EU), specifically establishing minimum car secondary safety regulations and consumer testing, were efficiently applied. In effect, the UN Regulations No. 14, 16 (seat belts and anchorages), 94 (occupant protection in frontal collision) and 95 (occupant protection in side or lateral collisions) have been modelled. Based on conservative assumptions, the study concludes that over 34,000 fatalities and up to 350,000 seriously injured casualties could be prevented between 2015 and 2030. (Author/publisher)
Abstract