All new cars on the Maltese market in three years’ time will have to be equipped with emergency call devices that automatically alert rescue services on 112.
The European Parliament approved the EU-wide implementation of this new law yesterday.
The new equipment, known as e-Call, will have to be fitted to all new models of cars and light vans by the end of March 2018. Used and old cars will not need to install this equipment.
The e-Call in-vehicle system uses 112 emergency call technology to automatically alert the emergency services to serious road accidents. This enables them to decide immediately on the type and size of rescue operation needed.
The prompt information will also help the emergency services – particularly the police and the civil protection department – to get to the scene of the accident faster, cut the cost of traffic jams and save lives.
Following the intervention of certain MEPs, the new legislation was strengthened to give more protection in relation to data in particular.
The automatic call will only give emergency services restricted information such as the type of vehicle involved in the accident, what fuel it uses, the time of the accident, the exact location and the number of passengers involved.
The rules stipulate that e-Call data gathered by emergency centres must not be transferred to third parties without the explicit consent of the person concerned.
Car manufacturers will also have to ensure that the e-Call technology design permits full and permanent deletion of the data gathered.
According to studies carried out before the law was prepared, it is estimated that the introduction of this system could cut the death toll related to road accidents in the EU by some 10 per cent.
Last year, 25,700 deaths related to road accidents were registered in the EU – a decrease of one per cent over 2013.
Currently, Malta, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK have the lowest reported road fatality rate, below 30 dead per million inhabitants.
The highest road fatality rates are reported from Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Poland, with more than 80 dead per million inhabitants.