EU urged to support ‘entire package’ of new vehicle safety standards

13.19 | 13 November 2018 | | 1 comment

Karima Delli, Chair of the Transport Committee (TRAN), European Parliament

A new social media campaign has been launched calling on the EU to approve a package of vehicle safety measures which, it is claimed, could save 25,000 lives.

In May 2018, the European Commission announced a ‘significant proposal’ to upgrade mandatory vehicle safety standards for all new cars, vans, lorries and buses sold in the EU.

Under the proposals, every new vehicle would have to satisfy 11 new safety rulings, mandating technologies such as AEB and ISA, as well as built in breathalysers, lane-keeping assist and drowsiness detection.

The Competitiveness Council (EU Ministers of Industry) is expected to give its view on the proposals later this month, with the European Parliament’s transport and internal market committees voting shortly after.

Ahead of these ‘crucial’ votes, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has launched a new social media campaign ‘in support of future EU vehicle safety standards’.

The campaign, titled ‘Last Night the EU Saved My Life’, is inspired by an 80s disco pop song and asks EU policymakers, national governments, campaigners and the public to support the entire package of measures proposed by the European Commission.

In particular, the campaign emphasises the importance of safer car and lorry fronts and the ‘life-saving potential’ of advanced driver assistance technologies such as Automated Emergency Braking (AEB) and Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA).

The ETSC predicts that ISA, which uses traffic sign recognition and GPS map data to help drivers stick to the legal speed limit, could cut road collisions by 30% and deaths by 20% when fitted to all vehicles.

Antonio Avenoso, executive director of ETSC, said: “By fitting the latest safety technologies as standard on new vehicles in Europe, we have the potential to dramatically reduce death and injury on European roads.  

“It’s an opportunity EU Member States and the European Parliament must take.  

“Crucially, this package includes several complementary technologies that share components such as forward-facing cameras.  

“Cherry-picking or delaying individual safety features, or de-prioritising essential crash protection measures that can save your life in the event of a collision, would cost more in the long run, a cost counted in euros, but also in lives lost.”


 

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      If we have AEB in the future the problem would be that some cars would be fitted with it and that will reduce the overall stopping distance by the Thinking Distance as electronically the sensor would pick up on such close proximity and react independently or alert the driver to react.

      So that may mean more vehicles being driven close up behind me and I would have no idea which one is fitted with the AEB or not. Do I slow and pull in to let him pass as I do now and as is recommended in the Highway Code and be safe or do I allow him the opportunity to sit in the rear passenger seat for mile after mile and not try to worry about it.


      R.Craven
      Agree (2) | Disagree (0)
      +2

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