https://doi.org/10.37955/cs.v6i1.226
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eISSN: 2600-5743
Analysis of vehicle safety elements
in category M1, according to INEN
034 standard.
Análisis de los elementos de seguridad vehicular en
categoría M1, según normativa INEN 034
Israel P. Espinosa G.
Master's Degree in Disaster Risk Management, Universidad Internacional del Ecuador, Director of
the School of Disaster Risk Management, Quito, Ecuador, isespinosagu@uide.edu.ec,
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0989-3381
Gorky G. Reyes C.
Master's Degree in Automotive Systems, Universidad Internacional del Ecuador, Research
Coordinator EIA, Quito, Ecuador, gureyesca@uide.edu.ec, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7133-9509
Andrés E. Cevallos V.
Student in Disaster Risk Engineering, Universidad Internacional del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador,
ancevallosve@uide.edu.ec, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9975-1223
Emrys L. Carbo G.
Disaster Risk Engineering Student-Universidad Internacional del Ecuador , Quito, Ecuador,
hecarbogu@uide.edu.ec, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7747-9449
Abstract
At the regional level, different types of vehicles imported from other
regions and continents are offered. It is important to know in what
percentage the safety systems benefit the driver and passengers at the
time of a frontal accident. In terms of safety, there are agencies that
regulate the active and passive systems of the vehicle. For the present
study, the Latin-Ncap tests were taken into consideration, as part of
the vehicles that are offered regionally and the Euro-Ncap of European
vehicles. The research used the indirect deductive method based on
the RTE INEN 034 regulation, the variables that influence the
research were analyzed, standardizing the speed in frontal impacts,
and the dummies of the driver and passenger in vehicles that are
offered at a national level, comparing the regulations related to vehicle
safety at a regional level. After the impact tests, the values of the driver
injury criteria show that the percentage of injury in Latin vehicles
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exceeds the level of acceptable risk based on AIS ratings, i.e. a score
higher than 3, while European vehicles maintain injury rates between
1 and 3.
Resumen
A nivel regional, se ofertan diferentes tipos de vehículos importados
de otras regiones y continentes. Lo que es importante conocer en qué
porcentaje los sistemas de seguridad benefician al conductor y a los
acompañantes al momento de un siniestro frontal. En cuestión de
seguridad existen organismos que regulan los sistemas activos y
pasivos del vehículo. Para el presente estudio se tomó a consideración
las pruebas de la Latin-Ncap, como parte de los vehículos que son
ofertados regionalmente y la Euro-Ncap de los vehículos europeos. La
investigación utilizó el método deductivo indirecto basándose en la
normativa RTE INEN 034, se analizaron las variables que influyen en
la investigación, estandarizando la velocidad en impactos frontales, y
los dummies del conductor y del acompañante en vehículos que se
ofertan a nivel nacional, comparando las normativas relacionadas con
la seguridad vehicular a nivel regional. Luego de las pruebas de
impacto los valores del criterio de lesión del piloto muestran que el
porcentaje de lesión en lo vehículos latinos sobrepasas el nivel del
riesgo aceptable en base a las valoraciones AIS, es decir un puntaje
mayor a 3 mientras que los vehículos europeos mantienen citereos de
lesión entre 1 y 3.
Palabras clave/ Keywords
Injury criteria, frontal impact, vehicle safety.
Criterios de lesión, impacto frontal, seguridad vehicular.
Introduction
There are several studies on regulations related to M1 vehicle safety for
occupants (Moreno Samaniego, 2019), which have shown a great
variation in safety between the different regulations in relation to the
makes and models of domestic and imported vehicles, and many of
them do not meet the safety criteria at the time of an accident.
Regarding the mortality study mentions that, In the study period June
2016 to the month of March 2017 1,671 people died from AT, the AVPP
is 3,495.6 years, with a rate of 3.4 years per 1,000 inhabitants, the
frequency of mortality is higher in male drivers and pedestrians
between the ages of 20 to 39 years (Peñafiel Gallegos, 2017). We began
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by assessing risks in M1 vehicles, thus seeking to reduce the
vulnerability of occupants represented through percentages in injuries
and loss of life, for example; the type of impact at the time of a
vehicular accident. The improvement of safety elements such as
passive and active elements will also be promoted with the help of the
RTE INEN 034 minimum safety elements in automobiles. This
regulation had three reforms from 2009 to 2013, with the third and
last revision remaining in force.
The safety systems in the different vehicles manufactured locally and
imported were examined; then the types of existing accidents were
investigated to identify the vehicle brands that generate greater injury
or death to the occupants; finally, the impact tests were compared
according to the origin and regulations established by Latin NCAP and
Euro NCAP, to compare the percentage of injury risks and their
severity levels to the occupants at the time of an impact according to
the proposed variables, and vehicle manufacturing origin.
Objective 1 of the National Development Plan 2017-2021 determines
"Guarantee a dignified life with equal opportunities for all people"
(INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE EVALUACIÓN EDUCATIVA, 2018).
Based on this objective is the line of research focused on health and
quality of life, which is affected by the different traffic accidents. It is
important to compare the regional and continental impact tests of the
vehicles offered, in order to determine whether the active and passive
vehicle safety elements in category M1 comply with the standards
established in the region of distribution, to establish which mitigation
strategies each commercial automotive company has in correlation to
the severity levels of the occupants at the moment of an impact,
according to the standards established by the national governments.
One study indicates that the risk of suffering the accident (measured
absolutely or after adjusting for the intensity of exposure of each
vehicle), the intrinsic severity of the accident (amount of energy
released) and the vulnerability of each user to the impact of this
energy, closely related to the type of vehicle used and causing most of
this variability (Bouaoun, 2015). This would mitigate the effects that
occur in an accident in M1 category vehicles.
According to statistics on traffic accidents recorded in Ecuador Traffic
Statistics (National Traffic Agency, 2019), it is identified that in 2020
there was a total of 16,972 accidents taking into consideration that
frontal crashes represent 5%, side crashes 30%, rear crashes 10%,
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collisions 2% crashes 15% others such as run over, hit and run over,
loss of lane, In addition, the number of fatalities in the same year is
1,591, taking into consideration that those killed by frontal collisions
represent 13%, those killed by side collisions 12%, rear collisions 9%,
crashes 15%, others 52%, and the number of injured is 13,099, being
these by frontal collisions 8%, side collisions 34%, rear collisions 11%,
crashes 9%, and others 40%. Side impacts are the second most
important cause of fatalities and the first cause of serious injuries
compared to frontal impacts, so there is very little space inside the
vehicle to absorb the energy and, consequently, serious injuries to the
head and thorax are more common. A study on Effectiveness of
evidence-based road safety interventions: a review of the literature,
Novoa (2009), determines that there are few reviews on interventions
focused on the vehicle (e.g., reminders on seat belt use, vehicle design,
technical inspection of the vehicle) and on the post-crash phase (e.g.,
population skills on first aid), skills of the population on first aid,
training of professionals in assisting the injured), in the same way a
study says that everything seems to indicate that most of the observed
associations depend on the type of vehicle driven and not so much on
the driver "Association of the type of vehicles with the risk of causing
a collision between vehicles" (Luis Reyes, 2018), also an article on
Estimating the effect of vehicle model year on crash and injury
involvement tells us that the possible confounding effect of vehicle age,
a variable positively associated with traffic crash risk (PJ Cooper,
2010). In view of these studies of statistics and regulations, it is
important to promote training in all areas of society, to raise awareness
that when acquiring a vehicle, safety is a priority, since the direct
beneficiaries of this study will be the occupants of M1 category vehicles
in Ecuador, knowing the safety features and mitigation strategies in
reference to the types of accidents.
A study by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research
(2014), tells us that the constant economic and population growth,
technological changes and the increasing urbanization of the region
led to the development of new mobility needs. Thus, the increase in
population and the use of means of transportation generated a
collective action problem: the increase in the number of road accidents
in increasingly motorized countries. According to the World Health
Organization (WHO) report, in 2013 the number of people killed and
injured in road accidents was 1.24 million and 50 million people,
respectively. The same study concludes that road crashes are the
eighth leading cause of death worldwide, and among the top three
causes for people aged 5 to 44 years. The report predicts that "if urgent
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action is not taken, road traffic crashes will become the fifth leading
cause of death by 2030" (WHO, 2013).
In 2010, the Decade Plan was held in Buenos Aires and was presented
at the II Ibero-American Road Safety Congress CISEV. In this
document it is proposed to work around the 5 pillars of road safety to
carry out improvements in this area as shown in the following image
(Sminkey, 2011). For this study, the pillar with the greatest interest in
reducing risks to occupants is to have safer vehicles.
It is well known that the risk of dying or suffering an injury as a
consequence of a traffic accident varies considerably depending on the
type of user and the type of vehicle (pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist,
driver or occupant, etc.) (M.J. Trowbridge, 2007), to this we add the
classification of the direction of impact: frontal impact, side impact,
rear-end collision, etc., these are the criteria that are considered in the
level of injury to determine a category to it.
These criteria are investigated by Latin NCAP, which considers the UN
127 standard, which details the maximum permitted (acceptable) level
of injuries caused by a vehicle, evaluating injuries to different parts of
the body of adult and child occupants in frontal crashes, which
determine the injuries that may occur in an accident.
Table 1. Hospital discharge criteria for traffic injuries, serious
injury.
A. Hospital discharge for traffic injuries (ICD9-MC): must meet
criteria 1, 2, 3 and 4.
1. Urgent admission (excluding scheduled admissions)
2. No readmission (readmission is defined as a new
hospitalization within 30 days for the same reason that caused
the primary admission).
3. Traumatic injury code in principal diagnosis (ICD9-CM codes:
N800-N904, N910-N957, N959)
4. Either of the following two criteria:
4.1. Code E for external cause according to ICD9-CM: E810-
819 and E826
4.2. Financing code: traffic insurance company
B. Person with serious traffic injury: A "serious injury" will be
considered to be any hospitalized person who: Meets the
criteria for hospital discharge for traffic injury set forth in the
previous item, and Obtains a score ≥3 on the Maximum
Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS), for any diagnosis of injury.
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C. Death due to traffic injuries (ICD10): Death due to traffic
injuries
Source: (Perez and Gomez, 2014)
The U.S. has legislated intensively on vehicle safety, but its regulations
have not always had an impact in several countries; Japan also has
extensive legislation, and other countries on a smaller scale, as shown
in Table 2.
Table 2. Regulations according to country and tests performed
Region
Tests
USA
HNTSA
EURO
Euro NCAP
MEXICO
Latin NCAP
KOREA
KNCAP
ECUA
Latin NCAP
Source: Authors
Based on globalization, automobiles, their parts and components are
not produced or marketed in a specific country; rather, there are more
and more international manufacturers, regionally there are criteria
according to each country based on perfectly defined and established
norms or standards, which will depend on the country where they
require more or less safety elements.
Table 3. Safety equipment in vehicles in Ecuador and the region.
Additional
requirements
034
EC
CH
AR
PE
CO
BR
MX
Power steering
X
ISOFIX
anchorages
X
X
Three-point seat
belts
X
X
X
X
ABS brakes
X
X
Tachograph
(buses and
trucks)
X
X
Visual and
audible warning
X
X
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of seat belt non-
use
Electronic
stability control
X
X
Vehicle brakes
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Heavy vehicle
brakes
X
X
X
X
Glass
X
X
X
X
Headrests on all
seats
X
X
X
X
Seats and their
anchorages
X
X
Frontal collision
protection
X
X
Side collision
protection
X
X
Airbags
X
X
X
X
X
Front and rear
bumpers
X
X
X
X
X
X
Source: Authors
Materials and Methods
The research used the indirect deductive method based on the RTE
INEN 034 regulation, which refers to the fact that vehicles entering
Ecuador must comply with said regulation in order to guarantee a good
level of safety for the occupants. In the first stage of the research, the
most commercialized vehicles in the country were analyzed, and then
the compliance with INEN 034 focused on safety criteria, to determine
how safe they are at the time of an accident, and how the percentage
of death of the driver and occupants decreases, in relation to the safety
requirements of vehicles of regional and European manufacture,
taking into account the criteria of injury in the impacts carried out in
the laboratories of Latin NCAP and Euro NCAP.
In order to make the comparison, the Latin NCAP and Euro NCAP
laboratory tests were used, each of which complied with standardized
procedures and regulations to validate the impact data. The tests
require the use of dummies or electronic dummies, which have
deceleration sensors in specific points of the body, obtaining values of
the injury criteria caused in a controlled impact, as shown in Table 4.
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Table 4. NCAP Considerations
NCAP Considerations
LatinNCAP
EuroNCAP
Frontal impact velocity
64 km/h,
50 km/h,
Source: Authors
The vehicles used in the injury criteria comparisons are part of the 3
most sold vehicle brands in Ecuador, according to data presented by
the AEADE, between the years 2019-2020, considering that they must
comply with the RTE INEN 034 Standard, as shown in Table 5.
Table 5. Vehicle Sales by Brand 2019-2020
Brands
2019
2020
Nov
Jan - Nov
Nov
Jan - Nov
CHEVROLET
3.171
36.623
2.067
15.684
KIA
2.226
20.352
1.851
13.808
HYUNDAI
751
8.717
647
5.436
TOYOTA
726
7.150
633
4.769
GREAT WALL
627
6.615
510
4.295
JAC
468
3.759
499
3.087
RENAULT
348
3.010
397
2.719
NISSAN
350
4.323
378
2.711
HINO
314
3.859
283
2.307
CHERY
263
3.289
262
2.023
Source: (Aso 201)
Two of the most widely offered vehicles in the country, which comply
with their respective regional and European safety standards, were
used and were named VP and VS . These vehicles are part of the impact
tests analyzed in the Latin NCAP and EuroNCAP laboratories.
RTE INEN 034 is taken as a reference, which determines the
"minimum safety elements", considering this regulation with the UN
regulations such as frontal collision protection UN 94, seat belts and
child restraint systems UN 16. In the same way, UN 127 is taken into
consideration for the injury criteria, thus identifying the deficit or the
adequate safety system provided by the vehicles under study to the
occupants.
Euro NCAP Test according to (Motor.es, 2017), means European New
Car Assessment Program. It is a voluntary safety program which is
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responsible for assessing the safety of vehicles available on the market
through impact tests at a given speed, the results are reflected by a star
scale, up to a maximum of five, so that each vehicle on the market is
perfectly measured and classified according to the injury criteria
presented.
This criterion quantitatively assesses the safety of the vehicle for the
occupants in relation to the number of stars obtained after a controlled
impact (Emol, 2017). The number of stars shows the usefulness of the
vehicle in the tests, but at the same time, it is influenced by the type of
safety equipment provided by the manufacturer in each market. Thus,
a high number of stars not only shows an optimistic result, but also
boasts the safety equipment of the evaluated vehicle.
Table 6. Interpretation of the stars
Rating
Meaning
Vehicle meeting minimum legal
requirements
Minimal collision protection.
Nominal collision protection but
lack of collision avoidance
technology.
Good occupant protection overall
but lack of collision avoidance
technology.
Good overall crash protection
performance; possible presence of
collision avoidance technology.
Good overall collision protection
performance. Well-equipped with
robust collision avoidance
technology.
Source: The World of Ton (2019)
Anthropomorphically representative impact dummies of various sizes
and ages of people are used to assess the level of risk under certain
crash conditions reproduced in the tests. These instrumented
anthropomorphic dummies, commonly referred to as Construction of
the Knee Joint of the Dummy Designed for Crash Tests will allow to
assess the level of risk that the person they represent would suffer
under the same impact conditions (Marek Jaśkiewicz, 2020). For the
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present investigation, Hybrid II and III type dummies were used since
they are the ones used in frontal impacts in relation to the male and
female build, as well as the Q-series types of child type.
Results
At the national level, there are different norms related to vehicle safety
related to the fundamental pillars of road safety in terms of safer
vehicles, management and control. These two pillars were analyzed in
relation to occupants and vehicle with impact tests at average speeds,
taking into account that at national level the maximum speeds in
urban areas are 50 km/h less than or equal to 60 km/h and in
perimeter zone is 90 km/h less than or equal to 120 km/h (Executive
Decree 1196, 2016), which means that for these impact tests the urban
speed level of 50km/h was used. Local regulations are considered to
be based on European regulations, in this case taking speeds of 50
km/h. There are regulations applied to adjusted internal policies of
each country, therefore the tests performed in LATINCAP are adjusted
to speeds of 64 km/h as shown in Table 7.
Table 7. Impact tests in relation to velocity
Source: Authors. Input data
In order to analyze the variables that influence the research, it is very
important to standardize the samples in the different impact tests;
vehicles that are offered in the European and South American sector
were taken into consideration, specifically the study is focused on
vehicles that are offered in the country. The quantitative values were
taken from the impact tests with controlled speeds, evaluating the
severity level of the occupants and the driver according to the
anthropomorphic characteristics of the European and South American
occupants. The percentage of severity caused by these controlled
impacts to the vehicle occupants was evaluated using Hybrid II - III
dummies. For this purpose, it is important to know the safety
Program
Speed
Impact
Vehicle
Class
LAN VP1
64km/h
Front
Hatchback
ERO VP2
50km/h
Front
Hatchback
LAN VS1
64km/h
Front
Hatchback
ERO VS2
50km/h
Front
Hatchback
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equipment of the vehicles under study, in order to relate or compare
the active and passive safety systems that the vehicles have and to
analyze the percentage in which the vehicles under study protect the
occupants in a frontal impact. As can be seen in Table 8.
Table 8. Safety equipment in study vehicles
Safety
equipment
LAN
VP1
EURO VP2
LAN VS1
EURO
VS2
C
A
T
C
A
T
C
A
T
C
A
T
Front airbag
O
X
X
O
O
X
X
X
X
O
O
X
Belt
pretensioner
O
O
X
O
O
O
X
X
X
O
O
X
Belt load
limiter
X
X
X
O
O
O
X
X
X
O
O
X
Knee airbag
X
X
X
O
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Side chest
airbag
X
X
X
-
-
-
X
X
X
-
-
-
Side head
airbag
X
X
X
O
O
O
X
X
X
O
O
O
Lateral
thoracic
airbag
X
X
X
O
O
X
X
X
X
O
O
X
Lateral
pelvic airbag
X
X
X
O
O
X
X
X
X
O
O
X
Isofix
-
X
X
-
X
O
-
X
O
-
X
O
Integrated
child seat
-
X
X
-
X
X
-
X
X
-
X
X
Airbag
disconnect
switch
-
X
-
-
O
-
-
X
-
-
X
-
Belt warning
light
O
X
X
O
O
O
X
X
X
O
O
O
C: Driver
A: Companion
T: Rear companion
Source: Authors
Injury criteria according to the safety stars in connection with AIS
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The star rating is evaluated in a quantitative way in relation to safety
and the types of injuries according to the AIS that the vehicle presents
to the occupants after a controlled impact. Based on what was
proposed, the final objective is to measure the injury criteria in relation
to the controlled impacts generated in Latin NCAP and Euro NCAP,
for this reason the driver and occupants were individually assessed.
The number of stars in terms of active and passive safety of the vehicles
offered in Europe and South America was examined by means of the
injury criteria, analyzing the injury criteria of the driver and
occupants.
Table 9. Risk assessment scale in the polytraumatized patient.
AIS Score
Injury
Morbidity or
mortality
By
Color
Stars
1
Menor
16.666%
2
Moderate
33.333%
3
Serious
50%
4
Severa
66.666%
5
Critique
83.333%
6
Incompati
ble with
survival
100%
Source: Authors
Considering that each body region plays a vital role in human survival,
HAI correlates with morbidity, mortality and other measures of
severity and is defined in six body regions, such as: thorax, abdomen -
visceral pelvis, head - neck, face, bony pelvis - extremities and external
structures.
Driver Analysis
The data collected by the dummies in the Latin NCAP and Euro NCAP
frontal impact tests were examined, taking into consideration the
colors reflected in Figure 2, making a quantitative assessment and
identifying the level of injury according to the AIS score,
demonstrating the level of risk that the driver may receive during an
impact as shown in Table 9.
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Figure 2. Drivers frontal impact test
Source: Latin NCAP (2019)
The comparison was made in the study vehicles on the data obtained
from the Latin NCAP and Euro NCAP programs with their respective
analysis of the injury criteria, generating a score in each of the body
regions where the level of acceptable risk was interpreted being this ≤
50% and where > to 50% will have less probability of life of the driver
as shown in Table 9 This helps us to verify the importance of passive
and active safety of a vehicle when an impact occurs.
Figure 3. Driver impact test analysis
Source: Authors
As shown in Figure 3, the injury criteria at specific points determined
by the laboratory tests were considered, taking into account the speed
of the impact to be controlled in relation to the internal policies of each
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country. It was verified that the most vulnerable body regions in a
frontal impact vehicle accident in the study vehicles are: abdomen,
thorax, face, extremities, head and neck, which exceed the acceptable
risk level. Observing that the vehicle LAN VS1 has a percentage of
83.333% in four body regions, followed by LAN VP1 which has two
body regions in 83.333% and one in 66.666% generating injuries or
death to the driver, which means that these points generate a high risk
of injury due to the lack of safety elements as shown in Table 3 and
unfortunately many of the countries at the local level do not even
require an airbag for the driver, much less safety systems that help
mitigate the risk levels of morbidity and mortality in the event of a
vehicle accident.
It is necessary to take into account the prehospital response time, in
order to provide timely and adequate care to the patient after the
accident. According to Martín (2000), response time is the indicator
that helps to assess a component of quality, of extraordinary
importance in emergencies and emergencies, such as the timeliness of
care. It has specificity in each of the levels of care, although it tries to
measure the same aspect: average time elapsed from the moment the
patient requests assistance or arrives at the Functional Unit until
he/she makes contact with the physician or the health team. This
means that from the moment the call is made to ECU 911, the response
time of the arrival of the first responders will be counted.
Companion Analysis
The data collected by the dummies in the Latin NCAP and Euro NCAP
frontal impact tests were analyzed, taking into consideration the colors
shown in Figure 4, making a quantitative assessment and identifying
the level of injury according to the AIS score, demonstrating the level
of risk that the passenger may receive during an impact as shown in
Table 9.
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Figure 4. Passenger frontal impact test
Source: Euro NCAP (2020)
The comparison was performed on the study vehicles on the data
obtained from the Latin NCAP and Euro NCAP programs with their
respective analysis of the injury criteria, generating a score in each of
the body regions where the level of acceptable risk was interpreted
being this ≤ 50% and where > to 50% will have less probability of life
of the passenger as seen in Table 9.
Figure 5. Analysis of accompanying frontal impact tests
Source: Authors
As shown in Figure 5, the injury criteria were analyzed in specific
points determined by the laboratory tests. It was verified that the most
vulnerable body regions in a frontal impact vehicle accident in the
study vehicles are: thorax, abdomen and extremities, which exceed the
acceptable risk level. Observing that the vehicle LAN VP1 has a
percentage of 83.333% in two body regions and one in 66.666%,
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followed by LAN VS1 which has two body regions in 83.333%
generating injuries or death to the passenger, which means that these
points generate a high risk of injury due to the lack of safety elements
as shown in Table 3, where it is identified that the injury levels are
lower than those analyzed in the driver. In the study, one of the five
pillars of road safety is the post-crash response; therefore, it is
necessary to take into consideration the arrival time of the rescuers by
performing a triage classification. For this reason, an acceptable risk
level of triage III was taken into consideration, since it will have an
arrival time of 30 to 60 minutes in an accident to rescue the patient.
According to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection (2015),
triage III is the clinical condition of the patient requires diagnostic and
therapeutic measures in the emergency department. Being those
patients who need a complementary examination or rapid treatment,
since they are stable from the physiological point of view, although
their situation may worsen if no action is taken.
It was analyzed that regarding the comparison of standards of active
and passive safety equipment in the different vehicles that were
studied in each of the tests at a speed of 50 km / h in urban areas we
consider that the arrival time of the rescue unit is about 30 minutes
this will depend on several factors such as the weather time, the sector
where the accident occurs among others.
Global Analysis of Vehicle Ownership Stars
The evaluation performed by Latin NCAP and Euro NCAP of vehicles
based on the number of stars, taking into account both active and
passive safety elements, not only the driver but also the occupants and
bystanders as such, these input data were considered to assess the
vehicles in our analysis. An additional vehicle was also considered for
this star rating, generating a better comparison of minimum safety
elements that a vehicle must have to obtain a five-star rating; this
vehicle was designated as VC1 in Latin NCAP and VC2 in Euro NCAP.
These vehicles are among the most sold in Latin America and also in
Europe, this implies that similar vehicles in Europe and Latin America
with similar characteristics were evaluated.
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Figure 6. Global analysis by stars
Source: Authors
According to the data of the Latin NCAP and Euro NCAP programs of
the study vehicles, Figure 8 shows that there is a difference in the
safety elements in reference to the stars where it was observed that the
vehicles of the Latin NCAP program obtained a zero star rating and the
vehicles of the Euro NCAP program obtained between three and four
stars. It is unfortunate that they do not consider safety criteria, as
many countries in South America do not have regulations or policies
that benefit the safety of drivers, occupants and bystanders.
On the other hand, it was identified that the VC1 and VC2 vehicles that
are Latin NCAP and Euro NCAP respectively obtained a five star
rating, these results are reflected in vehicles with better minimum
safety elements being these marketed in both Latin America and
Europe with the difference in the PVP in each of the regions as
appropriate.
That is why several improvements are needed in relation to passive
and active safety elements. in the Latin NCAP (2015) statement it
mentions that, it was evident that the safety of many of the best-selling
cars in the region was twenty years behind compared to Europe and
North America. Since then, some manufacturers have committed to
Latin NCAP to improve occupant protection, this means that not all
vehicles evaluated in Latin NCAP have a zero star rating, as
manufacturers have implemented more safety elements in correlation
to the various NCAP's programs, reaching 5 stars reducing the level of
risk to occupants in an accident.
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Conclusions
The analysis of the different regional and international standards
showed that there is a great difference between the active and passive
safety elements of M1 category vehicles. Demonstrating that the RTE
INEN 034 standard is one of the best in the region, however, when
compared with international standards, it is clear that we must
improve, thus reducing the risk of injury or death to the occupants in
a traffic accident. In the tests carried out by the Latin NCAP and Euro
NCAP programs on the study vehicles, the results were not expected,
since the vehicles marketed in Latin America obtained a very low level
of safety for the driver and occupants. In the analysis of the driver, it
could be seen in Figure 5 that Latin NCAP vehicles exceed the
acceptable level of risk in seven body regions, increasing their
vulnerability, since the response time to an accident with these
conditions should be immediate. On the other hand, it was evidenced
that in Euro NCAP they do not exceed the acceptable risk level.
In the tests concerning the passenger, as shown in Figure 3 of the Latin
NCAP and Euro NCAP programs, different results were obtained from
the driver injury criteria. In the Latin NCAP vehicles, risk data were
obtained between five and four, generating that immediate attention
to patients will be needed before an accident under these conditions of
the safety of these vehicles, and in the Euro NCAP vehicles in the
analysis of the passenger, they do not exceed the acceptable risk level.
The most commercialized vehicles in Latin America are unfortunately
the most unsafe in the event of a traffic accident, this may be due to
the PVP which is accessible to the population, without considering the
risk that the occupants are exposed to due to the lack of minimum
elements of passive and active safety, this is proven with additional
vehicles to the study being considered in Latin America as high-end
vehicles.
This study identified that it is not possible to determine the level of star
rating according to NCAP's for vehicles marketed in the country, since
the RTE INEN 034 standard is one of the best in the region, and has
more minimum safety elements than the standards or regulations of
neighboring countries, generating a reduction in morbidity and
mortality in vehicle occupants in the event of an accident. However, it
should be considered that international regulations are designed to
provide more safety to vehicle occupants, so we must work on
improving our regulations to achieve high standards of vehicle safety,
both active and passive.
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