The organisations say that 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 and Global NCAP recently demonstrated two crashed cars. After a frontal impact test at 64 km/h, one car scored zero stars, with a very serious risk of fatal injury while the other achieved 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, air bags, 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.”

To read the Global NCAP report Democratising Car Safety: Road Map for Safer Cars 2020 click here.