Safety standard difference

04 November 2003: Different safety standard elements between Europe and the US are causes for concern, according to one of the world’s top safety experts.

Director of Volvo Car Corporation’s safety centre in Gothenburg Ingrid Skogsmo says different bumper height regulations between the markets is just one aspect of the problem.

Add to that the difficulties already in place over side impact regulations, different crash-test barriers and even the dummies used, and there’s still quite a way to go before there is harmonisation of standards between the two biggest car markets, never mind the emerging ones.

Skogsmo, who once thought of being a doctor, oversees a Volvo unit that analyses 400 crash tests of its own annually, and also uses a database of 25,000 accidents in its safety research.

During her career, which included managing Ford’s global environmental and safety planning department in Dearborn, Michigan, and also work at Volvo’s advanced design studio in California, Skogsmo was honoured by the US NTHSA for her work on car safety relating to children.

She’s committed in a big way, and recently told Automotive News that she ‘wouldn’t be in the car business if it weren’t for safety’.

©2003 irishcar.com