The European Commission outlined new plans to accelerate the drive for safer, cleaner and smarter cars. It said it will start negotiations with European and Asian automotive industry associations later this year to reach an agreement on offering the pan-European in-vehicle emergency call system (eCall) as a standard option in all new cars from 2010. It will also further promote the take-up of other life-saving technologies and investigate how technology can help make cars greener and smarter.
"Technology can save lives, improve road transport and protect the environment. The EU must spread this good news among consumers and continue to put pressure on stakeholders to ensure Europeans benefit from these winning technologies sooner rather than later," said Viviane Reding, the EU's Commissioner for the information society and media. "If we are serious about saving lives on European roads, then all 27 member states should set a deadline to make eCall and electronic stability control (ESC) standard equipment in all new cars." The Commission's new Intelligent Car Communication has three main priorities: Safer, cleaner and smarter cars.
To improve safety, the policy document encourages the take-up of accident avoidance technologies.
The Commission calls on member states that still have not signed the Commission's eCall Memorandum of Understanding to catch up by the end of this year. Up to 2,500 lives could be saved in Europe, if all cars were equipped with eCall. It foresees possible regulatory actions for next year, if there are too few new signatures by then.
The Commission will consult on how to speed up ESC availability for middle-class and small cars later this year. Up to 4,000 lives could be saved annually, and 100,000 crashes avoided, if all cars had ESC.
The Commission said it would hold a consultation later this year on whether fitting braking assistance and crash avoidance systems should be obligatory for all cars. Sensors giving drivers a half-a-second more warning ahead of a crash, could reduce rear-end collisions by 60 per cent.
To make road transport 'greener' the Commission will propose next year a plan to rollout the most effective low-CO 2 technologies, targeting both the vehicles and the infrastructure. This will follow the results of work to quantify ICTs contribution to reducing CO2 in road transport for which there is currently no reliable data. For smarter road transport the Communication calls on relevant stakeholders to develop a standard interface to connect, for example, mobile navigation devices with other systems integrated into the vehicle. The Commission also requests equipment suppliers and carmakers to implement its December 2006 Human-Machine-Interfaces recommendation on general principles for the safe installing and use of mobile information and communication systems brought into the car.
It will continue to fund research into smart communications for safer and more efficient transport.
"Technology can save lives, improve road transport and protect the environment. The EU must spread this good news among consumers and continue to put pressure on stakeholders to ensure Europeans benefit from these winning technologies sooner rather than later," said Viviane Reding, the EU's Commissioner for the information society and media. "If we are serious about saving lives on European roads, then all 27 member states should set a deadline to make eCall and electronic stability control (ESC) standard equipment in all new cars." The Commission's new Intelligent Car Communication has three main priorities: Safer, cleaner and smarter cars.
To improve safety, the policy document encourages the take-up of accident avoidance technologies.
The Commission calls on member states that still have not signed the Commission's eCall Memorandum of Understanding to catch up by the end of this year. Up to 2,500 lives could be saved in Europe, if all cars were equipped with eCall. It foresees possible regulatory actions for next year, if there are too few new signatures by then.
The Commission will consult on how to speed up ESC availability for middle-class and small cars later this year. Up to 4,000 lives could be saved annually, and 100,000 crashes avoided, if all cars had ESC.
The Commission said it would hold a consultation later this year on whether fitting braking assistance and crash avoidance systems should be obligatory for all cars. Sensors giving drivers a half-a-second more warning ahead of a crash, could reduce rear-end collisions by 60 per cent.
To make road transport 'greener' the Commission will propose next year a plan to rollout the most effective low-CO 2 technologies, targeting both the vehicles and the infrastructure. This will follow the results of work to quantify ICTs contribution to reducing CO2 in road transport for which there is currently no reliable data. For smarter road transport the Communication calls on relevant stakeholders to develop a standard interface to connect, for example, mobile navigation devices with other systems integrated into the vehicle. The Commission also requests equipment suppliers and carmakers to implement its December 2006 Human-Machine-Interfaces recommendation on general principles for the safe installing and use of mobile information and communication systems brought into the car.
It will continue to fund research into smart communications for safer and more efficient transport.