Top award for safety

The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations has been recognised for its role in promoting global regulations for vehicle safety in the interests of consumer protection.

It received Global NCAP’s Annual Award from David Ward, secretary general of Global NCAP during the Forum’s 170th session.

He said, ‘The Forum is responsible for the world’s most important vehicle safety standards. It provides all countries with a fast-track method to apply regulations that promote crash worthiness and crash avoidance. Crucially also it is an intergovernmental forum that gives a voice of the consumer as new regulations are developed.’

He also stressed that the UNECE region, where the application of WP29 regulations is the highest, has the lowest fatality rate per hundred thousand kilometres in the world despite many decades of increases in vehicle kilometres driven.

Boris Kisulenko of World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, said, ‘I am very glad to accept this award in the name of the World Forum. Global NCAP and the NCAP family’s rating systems play an important role in increasing vehicles safety by offering car makers a widely accepted tool to promote those models that comply with or exceed the safety measures enacted in the Forum’s regulations.’

Meanwhile, UNECE executive secretary Christian Friis Bach said, ‘This award is a recognition of the key role of the World Forum in increasing vehicle safety over the past six decades. It also shows the crucial importance that these norms and regulations have played in saving lives and avoiding injuries.

‘I therefore call on all UN member States to fully apply the UN technical regulations for the construction of vehicles developed by the World Forum. I also urge the motor industry as a whole to ensure that all vehicles comply with the core safety standards established under these regulations regardless of where in the world the vehicles are sold.’