The Society commended local manufacturers that led the way with ESC, making Australia one of the very few countries where locally made vehicles have 100% ESC fitment. Such electronic devices greatly enhance the safety performance of vehicles, including those that carry heavy loads.

However, the SAE-A believes the new legislation fails to protect workers and their families by not mandating ESC technology for passenger carrying commercial vehicles. Many light commercial vehicles that do not have to meet the new standards are used for family transport, as well as work. The Society encourages manufacturers of all vehicles to meet the new safety standards, including those that import vehicles pitched at low market price points.

SAE-A is concerned that some vehicles are marketed on the basis that safety features are merely options, like leather upholstery or satellite navigation. This means customers are often forced to purchase a vehicle without the safety options, or wait several months for their “special order” vehicle to be delivered. 

Some imported commercial vehicles include luxury fittings, such as air conditioning, alloy wheels, electric windows and leather trim as standard, while key safety devices airbags, ABS brakes and a single mounted high stop light are optional, or as in the case of a recently released imported vehicle, not available at all.

As a minimum, SAE-A wants airbags and ABS to be fitted to vehicles sold in Australia today. Given the world wide availability of these technologies at competitive prices, the Society says it is difficult to imagine why any new vehicle would be allowed on the Australian market in 2009 without these features.

The SAE-A encourages all vehicle importers and fleet operators to take responsibility as corporate citizens to have a duty of care to the drivers and passengers in their vehicles. This would require them to make no compromise on the safety specification of their vehicles.  

About SAE-A
The Society of Automotive Engineers – Australasia (SAE-A) promotes excellence in automotive engineering and is committed to the protection and betterment of the environment. Its members are engineers, scientists and technicians working across the entire spectrum of the Australasian automotive industry – vehicle and component manufacturers; vehicle service, repair and aftermarket sectors; importers, insurance services, fuel suppliers, government authorities, and students. SAE-A is a Council member of the International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies, and is linked to SAE-International and the International Pacific Conference on Automotive Engineering.