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It's been years since you could buy a new car in the US without stability control.
Dual front air bags have been required on cars here since 96.
And yet there are places in the world right now where new 2015s are rolling out of the show room without a single air bag or stability control, or even.
Given much of a body structure.
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Look at how this Indian market Datsun Go failed in a crash test.
The main impact absorbing structure seems to be the driver.
The Dacia Sandero, sold in Europe, gets a four star rating.
Aversion, sold in Brazil, last model year.
Got a one star rating.
As you can imagine they improved it after that.
Because nothing chases dangerous cars out of the market place faster than miserable crash rates.
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But who is minding the store?
Globally.
Enter a global NCAP.
Global New Car Assessment Program.
The idea is to stitch together crash testing programs at different regions around the world into one global standard to get auto makers to basically, have no excuse.
Or offering less safe cars.
Europe already has Euro NCAP.
Australia and New Zealand have ANCAP.
There's Latin NCAP, China's C-NCAP and Bharat NCAP under consideration in India.
But a true global standard will be sought at a major auto safety conference in Brazil this November when the UN will push for Global NCAP.
That means all cars, worldwide.
It would have common passenger cell strength standards, common pedestrian impact protection standards, and electronic stability control.
Of course the big problem here is cost.
That Datsun Go we saw earlier cost like 6,100 bucks.
The Tata Nano is under 3,000.
Some of the safety gear in American cars costs more than that, nevermind the price of a car.
So we'll watch with keen interest.
Is how they sort out that hurdle, broach that cost gap, at the conference in Brazil.
In the meantime, whatever you drive, it pays to doublecheck that it's got good crash test safety ratings.
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