Mexico is the world’s fourth largest auto exporter, producing about 3 million cars every year. While the cars produced in Mexico may look identical, how safe they are depends on where they are headed. Compared with the U.S., the laws of Mexico require virtually no safety protection. As a result, automakers can save money and increase profits by making cars intended to be sold in Mexico without including many of the safety features required in the U.S. For example, if the cars are exported to the U.S., they must meet fairly stringent safety standards, including such things as having as many as six to 10 airbags and stability controls.
But if the cars are intended to remain in Mexico, the cars carry a code signifying no need for antilock braking, electronic stability control, or more than two airbags. Despite the fact that the cars are lacking significant safety features, these unsafe cars are sold in Mexico for about the same price. Alejandro Furas, a technical director for Global New Car Assessment Program, a vehicle crash-test group, stated: “We are paying for cars that are far more expensive and far less safe. Something is very wrong.”
In 2011, nearly 5,000 drivers and passengers in Mexico died in accidents – a 51 percent increase from 2001. In contrast, auto-related fatalities in the U.S. during the same decade were reduced by 40 percent. While General Motors has so far declined to comment publicly on these issues, an engineer who headed a manufacturing division for the company in Mexico until last year said the company saved on costs by not adding safety features. He has said:
For the company to make more net profit and so that cars are sold at more affordable prices, we would toss aside some accessories. Air bags, ABS brakes, those were the first to go.
Despite the fact that these unsafe vehicles are not exported to the U.S., these vehicles can make their way on to U.S. highways by individuals traveling across the U.S. border. The harsh reality is that we are all at risk so long as these vehicles are sold. Mexico will very likely continue to sell these unsafe cars to its own people. That’s because the country’s $30 billion auto industry will work to protect the automakers and the Mexican government won’t be willing to challenge the carmakers and risk shifting production out of Mexico. In the meanwhile, folks on U.S. highways will be at risk because of unsafe cars made in Mexico that will be on those very same highways.
Source: The Huffington Post
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