Malaysia aims to enforce 126 United Nations Regulations (UNR) by 2020, according to Road Transport Department (RTD) director-general Datuk Seri Ismail Ahmad, as reported by the Bernama Daily Malaysian News. "We hope the implementation of the UNR via the Vehicle Type Approval [VTA] process will reduce [the] death toll due to accidents involving vehicles to three per cent annually by 2020 from the current six per cent," said Datuk.
Significance: The UNR has been recognised by the 51 members of the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP29) to confirm the degree of vehicle safety standards. Malaysia has been part of the WP29 since April 2006 and the RTD was recognised as an Approval Authority by the UN in July 2012, according to the media report. As a result of this move, Malaysian vehicles were exempted from additional individual tests when exported to fellow WP29 members. The Malaysian government has already enforced 100 UNR in the country. The additional 26 UNR are expected to include autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and lane departure warning, among others. The move to enforce additional regulations is in line with the Malaysian government's road safety plan 2014–20 designed to reduce the number of deaths due to road accidents.
