cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/61898807
A new EU proposal to freeze safety requirements for small electric cars for up to ten years could put lives at risk and create a two-tier vehicle safety system
ETSC warns that this approach would lock in outdated standards at a time when the EU is already off track to meet its target of halving road deaths by 2030. More than 19,000 people were killed on EU roads in 2025.
Instead of lowering standards, ETSC calls for incentive schemes to promote the uptake of smaller, safer vehicles that comply with the latest safety requirements.
Two tiered system: Small, compact cars like we should always have had and Cars The Marketing Men Sold Us
Cars as safe mobility vs Profitmobiles.
But… why?
The European Commission aims to announce the creation of a new category of affordable small electric cars in December in an effort to counter Chinese competition and revive the European market, an EU commissioner said on Tuesday.
The Commission has been working on creating an intermediate category between quadricycles that weigh a few hundred kilograms and all other cars, so that small electric vehicles no longer have to include as much safety equipment and technology as a large saloon car.
Fair.