Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 12065, which EU and US regulators and which representatives from the UK are assessing the Comparing Motor-Vehicle Crash Risk of EU and US Vehicles report; and whether that assessment will take account of the report's finding that there is 33 per cent greater risk in front-end collisions of US vehicles compared to EU vehicles.

The report is being assessed by the European Commission’s Directorate General for GROWTH, and the US regulator National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The report will help inform negotiations, but is the first side-by-side comparison of predicted risk for EU-regulated and US-regulated vehicles. It recommends further work to replicate results, identify patterns, and establish links between results, design and regulatory differences.

The European Commission has commissioned its own research into vehicle safety and has published the findings so far on its website. Negotiators will look to use all of the evidence available to ensure we capture the trade benefits without compromising EU safety standards.