There is no urgent need to require local automakers to disclose results of vehicle collision tests for new cars conducted by the Automotive Research and Testing Center before they are sold, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said, adding that it would encourage manufacturers to make the information public.
The proposal to make disclosure mandatory was made by members of the public through an online public policy platform set up by the National Development Council.
People also said that the government should stipulate safety ratings based on the test results as has been done in other countries.
The ministry said it would invite the people who made the policy suggestions and other parties to discuss the feasibility of the ideas.
Department of Railways and Highways specialist Lee Chao-hsien (李昭賢) said that the nation has had a vehicle safety approval management system in place since 1998 that is similar to those in the EU, Japan and Australia.
“The nation’s vehicle safety regulations have incorporated regulations stipulated by the UN Economic Commission for Europe [UNECE] and state that all certifications must be issued by the government,” Lee said. “Based on the regulations, automakers and importers must secure certificates proving that the vehicles have passed a series of safety tests at government-approved institutions before they can be sold in Taiwan.”
The ministry has also incorporated articles R94 and R95 from the UNECE’s vehicle safety regulations in vehicle collision tests, Lee said, adding that the two articles state that automobiles must ensure the protection of occupants in the case of frontal and side-on collisions.
Since 2008, the R94 and R95 rules have applied to new small passenger vehicles, he said, adding that the ministry has published a list of vehicles that have passed the collision tests on its Web site, www.car-safety.org.tw.
The Web site lists 417 models that have passed frontal collision tests and 374 that have passed side collision tests.
Both lists are updated every month, Lee said.
New car assessment programs in other countries are either enforced by those nations’ governments or the private sector, with the results being used by prospective buyers, he said.
Automakers can also use the results to refine the manufacturing process, he said.
Vehicle safety regulations in Taiwan are primarily a certification system to ensure that cars meet basic safety requirements, which serve a different purpose from those in other countries, he added.
Lee said that the cost of enforcing the rules for new cars would be about NT$200 million (US$6.33 million) per year.
The Civil Code, the Consumer Protection Act (消費者保護法) and the standardized contract governing the sale of automobiles all say that automakers and importers must guarantee that their cars fulfill the government’s safety regulations before they are sold, he said.
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