Brazil Moving on Latin America’s Government Auto Crash Test Site

Brazil is launching Latin America’s first government-run auto crash test center, and experts say it’s an important step forward for car safety in a country where inferior production standards mean motorists die at far higher rates than in the U.S.

On Jan. 7, the government announced in its official gazette that the Brazilian branch of Spanish safety firm Applus IDIADA had won the contract to design the $77 million crash test center in Rio de Janeiro. Officials aim to begin construction in six months.

Safety experts have applauded the move.

A recent Associated Press investigation showed the world’s biggest automakers were selling cars in Brazil with significantly fewer safeguards and weaker bodies than the same or similar models sold in the U.S. and Europe.