 Asked in a 2003 interview about his most enduring achievement as president of the FIA , Mosley replied : " I think using Formula One to push <unk> Crash @-@ Testing . " The European New Car Assessment Programme ( Euro NCAP ) is a European car safety performance assessment programme that originated with work done by the Transport Research Laboratory for the UK Department for Transport . The FIA became involved in the programme in 1996 , taking a lead in promoting it , and Mosley chaired the body from its launch as Euro NCAP in 1997 to 2004 . Despite what NCAP describes as a " strong negative response " from car manufacturers at first , the initiative has expanded , and NCAP says that there has been a clear increase in the safety of modern cars as a result . The EU commission in 2000 stated that " <unk> had become the single most important mechanism for achieving advances in vehicle safety " and " the most cost effective road safety action available to the EU . " Mosley has continued to promote the matter through his membership of initiatives such as <unk> 21 , the European Commission ’ s policy group aimed at improving the worldwide competitiveness of the European automotive industry . 
