Citation

Ponte G, Anderson R, Searson DJ. J. Australas. Coll. Road Saf. 2008; 19(3): 25-31.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Australasian College of Road Safety)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In a collision, a pedestrian's chances of survival can be improved through frontal vehicle design improvements, but in regard to Australian pedestrian protection, there are no design rules. A minimum pedestrian protection level is being mandated by some overseas regulators, with a flow of safer Australian vehicle fleet designs as one likely consequence. The pedestrian safety performance distribution in Australia's new car fleet was compared with those of the United Kingdom and France in order for the size of this effect to be assessed. In Australia, there is a greater proportion of sales of new passenger vehicles with less than a two-star European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) and the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) rating than there are in the United Kingdom and France. Furthermore, in the United Kingdom and France, a significant improvement has been shown and there is a larger proportion of better performing vehicles in the new car fleet portion assessed by the Euro NCAP/ANCAP since the beginning of 2006 than Australia's equivalent new car fleet segment. The introduction of new European vehicle pedestrian safety regulations corresponds with this period.