|
If every manufacturer made modifications to new cars at an estimated cost of £75
(107 Euros) per car, the lives of 1,700 pedestrians and cyclists could be saved
each year, across Europe, according to the RAC Foundation, launching the latest Euro NCAP (The European New Car Assessment Programme) results today.
The Chairman of Euro NCAP will tell a press conference at The Bernabeu Stadium, home of Real Madrid that "The killing has got to stop".
The European Commission has been told that 1,700 fatalities and 42,000 serious injuries to Vulnerable Road Users (pedestrians and cyclists) could be prevented each year if manufacturers produced cars that incorporated greater pedestrian protection.
Legislation, forcing the changes to be made, is being phased in - and will not be fully in force until 2010 or beyond.
The Chairman of Euro NCAP - the European New Car Assessment Programme charged with enhancing car safety, called upon the CEO's of major manufacturers to drive through the changes now.
Speaking via video link to a major media conference at The Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid, Prof Claes Tingvall will say: "The killing has got to stop, not tomorrow, not in 2010 but now.
"For every day that we lose - 5 people will die and 115 will be seriously injured.
"Car manufacturers have had the ability to save this pain and suffering for years - but have chosen not to do so.
"The World Health Organisation has called the situation a global catastrophe - and it is.
"Manufacturers make the mistake of thinking that people wouldn't be interested in saving lives if they had to pay a few euros more. I can give them an absolute guarantee that they are wrong."
The changes called for include the repositioning and restructuring of the front bumper to absorb energy and reduce the chances of leg breakage, the 'softening' of the leading edge of the bonnet and less rigid reinforcement under the bonnet.
Leading researcher, Graham Lawrence, of The Transport Research Laboratory in the UK, who co-authored the report for the European Commission, estimates that the average cost per vehicle of such modifications will be around 100 Euros.
Since its inception in 1997 Euro NCAP has been hugely successful in driving through safety improvements for adult occupants and children. Now it is redoubling its efforts to help Vulnerable Road
Users.
The Euro NCAP Phase 15 ratings, which incorporate 13 new models and one previously tested, reveal the extent of the problem.
* Seven received the maximum five star rating for Occupant Safety
* Nine received the maximum four star rating for Child Protection
* No cars received the maximum four star rating for Pedestrian Protection
* Nine cars received merely one star rating for Pedestrian Protection
The dichotomy between Occupant Protection and Pedestrian Protection ratings particularly stark with the Audi A6, Renault Modus, VW Touareg, and the Citroen
C5.
These models all achieved maximum five star ratings for Occupant Protection just one star rating for Pedestrian Protection.
Two vehicles - the Seat Altea and Citroen C4 - are leading the pack with a creditable three star rating for Pedestrian
Protection.
Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation said: "Safety is a factor when individuals buy cars but that safety should include pedestrian safety. Seventy-five pounds per car seems a small price to pay to save thousands of lives and serious injuries.
"Fleet buyers have a major role to play. They buy around half the new cars purchased in Europe - and they have a responsibility for all road users - including Vulnerable Road Users."
The conference will also feature the story of Francis Herbert, a lawyer from Brussels, whose nine-year-old daughter Marie died after being hit by a car.
"If manufacturers can change the front end of a car for cosmetic or aerodynamic purposes - surely they should do the same to save so many lives." said Mr. Herbert.
"There is no decision to be made."
Consultant Neurosurgeon, Colin Shieff, from the Royal Free Hospital, London, is on the front line in the fight to save life and limb.
The campaigner for Head Injury pressure group Headway backed Euro NCAP's call.
"The brain is a very delicate organ," he said. "You can't just mend it like a broken bone. Head injury is all too common a result of a pedestrian or cyclist being hit by a car.
"It often proves fatal - and those that survive often suffer serious consequences - such as memory loss, dramatic personality changes - and in the worst cases loss of speech and mobility.
"In my opinion - anything that can be done should be done - and it should be done now".
Source:
The RAC Foundation for Motoring
DSA
Comment: What chance would any such measures
have, here in
the USA? The NHTSA very recently baulked at the prospect of making
U.S. auto makers spend just $50 per vehicle on auto-reverse windows to
prevent unattended children being accidentally strangled by power
windows. Instead, only a requirement to change the design of window
switches has been instituted, and even that won't come fully into effect
until 2009!
[For
earlier stories on power windows, click on the following dates:
July
5, 2004 -- October
23, 2004]
|
