Search Results

South East Asia is one of the regions with highest traffic-related fatality rates worldwide −18.5 fatalities per 100.000 inhabitants-. In response to that, governments of ASEAN countries are currently introducing new regulations, which will help to improve the road safety standards in the region. This paper reviews new safety regulations in force of following ASEAN countries: Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. General safety trends promote the approach to international standards as well as the adoption of UNECE regulations. In fact, the 1958 agreement was signed by Thailand and Malaysia in 2006. Besides, Malaysia has gradually adopted fifty-three UNECE regulations so far and is currently considering the inclusion of twenty-four more. After the success of other NCAP organizations, the ASEAN NCAP assessment program was established in 2011.

In 1978, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) established the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and began rating vehicles for frontal impact safety for MY1979 with the purpose of providing information to the public so consumers could make better-informed decisions about their purchases. Manufacturers responded to the ratings by voluntarily improving the safety of their vehicles beyond the minimum Federal safety standards. In 1996, NHTSA added testing for side impact protection and more recently to assess the vehicle's rollover propensity. After NHTSA's NCAP, other organizations have followed testing the passive safety performance of the vehicles and publishing the results to the customers with the intention of improving the protection given by the vehicles. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) started in 1995 with an offset frontal impact test and in 2002 with a side impact test using a mobile barrier that represents the typical SUV frontend.