The regulation was agreed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's Working Party 29 (UNECE WP29), the world forum for the harmonisation of vehicle regulations.

FIA Technical Director Frank van West, who represents the FIA at the UNECE, said: “This is an important development for road safety as pedestrian protection legislation has been under discussion for some years. FIA initiatives such as EuroNCAP, have helped to ensure that manufacturers in Europe take pedestrians into consideration and this regulation will go further to guaranteeing that vulnerable road users across the world will be more likely to survive an accident.”

The regulation will create a global standard for testing methods, testing equipment and limit values. In Europe, EuroNCAP has already been assessing pedestrian protection but until present only one car has ever scored a full four-star rating for pedestrian safety. With this new regulation a large number of cars are expected to achieve the maximum rating.

The UN regulation ensures that new car models will conform to minimum standards in front-end design, rigid enough to protect the occupant whilst ensuring key areas are soft enough to cushion the impact and reduce injury to the pedestrian.

EuroNCAP has led the way for requirements on pedestrian safety, despite the issue not featuring at all in European safety standards. Its inclusion as in EuroNCAP's criteria accelerated manufacturer research into pedestrian protection, making manufacturer acceptance of a global regulation possible, paving the way for a global agreement.