US/Canada vehicle safety requirements vs EU + Israel: Is one superior? 

"MegaSuper" (megasuper) 05/22/2015 at 20:39 • Filed to: None

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This is a long and somewhat complex post, but I think there’s something for everyone in here:

1) Are there ANY statistics out there comparing accident survival rates for the SAME MODEL in both regions (assuming one that is sold in both, of course)? For example, how many people died in a US/Canada market Audi A4, per capita, (and maybe per model sold) vs how many people died in am EU market Audi A4, per capita (and maybe per model sold).

I ask because of the one example I know off the top of my head (although I’m not sure if this was EU-wide, or just Sweden): In the 10+ years the Volvo XC90 was on sale, only 1 person died in one. ONE! He drove straight-on into a tree. Now maybe this isn’t the best example, because Volvo is well-known for safety and may very well add more safety equipment than what’s strictly required, BUT

2) If the US/CAN Volvo XC90 does indeed have more structural reinforcement than the EU one, why? Or to put it another way, why does the European one have less? Is there such a thing as a car design that satisfies both markets’ requirements without anything physical/structural needing to be added? (In other words, anything other than lighting/units of speed and temperature) Or two identical models that weigh roughly the same in both markets?

3) I decided to look up how this works in Israel (In relation to my other topic: ), and I found it rather fascinating that:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

a) They follow EU standards

b) Despite that, they allow US/CAN compliant vehicles to be imported.

c) You might be thinking “big deal, every EU country is like that”, but as far as I know, Israel’s regs don’t specifically appear to allow domestic-market vehicles from Asia, which is a bit different.

Israeli import regs (note: This appears to be a page for people doing Aliyah immigration, so there’s a chance this may not be how it works for people who are already Israeli citizens. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong): !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

If I had to guess why the Israeli regs don’t include Asian vehicles, I’d say:

China: Safety regulations may be severely lacking at this time !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Japan: I’m not sure if their standards meet EU or US/CAN (a helpful Oppo told me they only recently started having crash tests of their own), and I’ve never heard anything about their crash-testing regulatory body. I’ve read on here that when Motorex was working on legalizing the R34 Skyline in the USA, they had to add quite a few strengthening bars to the body. I’ve also read that Japan domestic market cars tend to lack a lot of B-pillar reinforcement, so that can make perpendicular accident testing difficult to pass.

South Korea: I have no clue what their crash regs are like, anyone know? Would a KDM vehicle be measurably different in terms of safety equipment/reinforcement from a US/CAN/EU one?

Indonesia: Perodua is sold in the UK, and they have dealerships, so I’m guessing it passes NCAAP. I’m not aware of them being sold elsewhere in the EU, correct me if I’m wrong.

So in other words, I’m just trying to say that the regulations are not harmonized across Asia, unlike the US and Canada, and unlike the various EU member states.

So this brings me to my final question:

4) Why does/would Israel follow EU regs, but also allow US/CAN ones? Is it because of friendly political ties? Proximity to Europe? Or are US/CAN regs genuinely, truly, better/safer? If not, then why is the opposite not true? (US/CAN allowing EU-certified vehicles to be imported/registered?) And if not, then why does the Alfa 4C weigh so much there?!?! Haha!

I think Oppo knows a lot about how these regs work, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a discussion about the “Whys”, which are always interesting.

dogisbadob > MegaSuper 05/22/2015 at 20:52

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I think the weak Japanese B-pillar standards are due to their affinity for “hardtop” sedans with no B-pillar. They also accept EU standards

Our US standards were written to be different, not better, at a time when GM was the vast majority of the car market (even into the 70s they had over 50% market share *by themselves*). Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” sounds like it could be about GM! European standards were written by engineers; US standards were written by lobbyists and beancounters. For example, that’s why red turn signals are still allowed.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > MegaSuper 05/22/2015 at 20:54

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I was about to write a long rant about Israel.. But I won’t..

But yeah, Israel probably allow US ones due to the fellowship they have :)

Cé hé sin > MegaSuper 05/23/2015 at 05:20

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One point to note is that US regs assume that there are more large vehicles on the road and so side impact rules are stricter than in the EU. I think they also have different rules for rear impacts and roll overs. Just as an example, the current Mini is something like 60 kg heavier in the US than back home.

MegaSuper > Cé hé sin 05/23/2015 at 21:32

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Good point. I also think they do crash tests under the assumption that the driver is NOT wearing a seatbelt, right? AFAIK, US/CAN cars have more potent airbags than elsewhere.

Cé hé sin > MegaSuper 05/24/2015 at 05:12

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I’m not sure about the seatbelt one during crash testing but certainly airbags in the US and Canada are designed on the assumption that the occupants will be unbelted and are therefore bigger and/or inflated more than elsewhere - in fact US spec bags are I understand illegal in the EU.

boxrocket > MegaSuper 05/25/2015 at 16:27

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U.S. has more stringent impact standards all around - including upside down for rollover-susceptible vehicles- but the EU standards allow for better lighting and pedestrian impact tech.