Pedestrian safety is new priority; Design of new cars in Europe will change because of new front-end impact legislation.(News)

Byline: Sylviane de Saint-Seine

The drive to save pedestrian lives in Europe is about to fundamentally alter the design of European cars.

Vehicle front ends will have to become higher, squarer and bulkier when new regulations are introduced in just over two years' time.

New European laws effective October 1, 2005, are designed to better protect pedestrians and cyclists against road accidents.

Each year, 8,000 pedestrians and cyclists die in road accidents in Europe. That's one-fifth of the total road-death toll of 40,000. The EU wants to halve the number of total ...