EACH year, about 2,000 pedestrians are killed or seriously injured on Britain's roads because of the way cars are made. By changing the designs and materials used for car fronts, those lives could be saved and the severity of injuries reduced.
The way to do this is already known -- and RoSPA had expected legislation to be introduced in Europe soon to make all cars 'pedestrian friendly.' Now, we have learned of moves to water down the proposals so that the car industry would only have to follow a voluntary code.
I believe this is likely to lead to manufacturers dragging their feet over something which could make a real difference to road safety. These improvements could do for pedestrians what seatbelts have done to reduce deaths and injuries.
I would urge readers to write to their MPs and MEPs, asking them to fight for compulsory 'pedestrian friendly front' legislation throughout Europe as soon as possible. We owe it to our children.
DAVE ROGERS, Road Safety Adviser, Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), Bristol Road, Birmingham.
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