In a disturbing new report, a leading road crash unit says that two thirds of the new cars sold in Australia do not meet up to the international standards for pedestrian safety.
Daniel Searson a researcher from the Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR) at the University of Adelaide said only 6 out of the 33 models are currently meeting the Global Technical Regulation (GTR) for pedestrian safety. He said Australia lagged severely behind Japan and Europe in making pedestrian and driver safe cars.
"The key factors in vehicle design which help minimise pedestrian injuries are the car's ability to absorb impact from a human body and the clearance between the bonnet and the engine…Currently there is no legal requirement for vehicles sold in Australia to take into account either of these design features."
Australia however is one of the signatories for GTR and it can be hoped that federal government would adopt the global regulations soon.
Mr. Searson also said that in a recent CASR study reports suggested that at least 28 lives and about 1,000 injuries could be saved each year if these regulations were followed by car manufacturers.
"In dollar terms this amounts to about $385 million per year in savings - not to mention the obvious human factor, where many families will be spared a lot of grief," he said.