EC Proposes Mandated Emergency-Call Systems in New Cars by 2015

BRUSSELS – The European Commission proposes a new regulation requiring that auto makers install automatic emergency-call systems on all new cars sold in the European Union after October 2015.

The system automatically would call the European eCall emergency number 112 in case of a serious crash once the airbag system is activated.  The eCall service in turn would route calls to local emergency services in all 27 member states.

“Thanks to eCall, emergency response time would be reduced with about 40% in urban areas and 50% in rural areas,” EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas says, noting the technology potentially could save about 2,500 lives a year.

The device to be installed in privately owned vehicles would work similarly to a mobile phone, by sending an automatic message to emergency-services providers containing information on the type of vehicle, the type of fuel it uses and the direction in which it was traveling when the airbags were deployed.

The EU has been pushing member states to make such systems mandatory since 2003, but only 0.7% of the privately owned cars on the region’s roads are equipped with the technology.

“This will make our vehicles a lot more intelligent,” an EU official who did not want to be named says of the regulation, which requires approval by the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers.

The commission estimates it would cost up to €100 ($133) per car to install the system. European auto makers welcome the proposal but have asked the EC not to specify technical standards but allow, for example, embedded mobile phones or third-party solutions.

The Commission is expected to publish the technical requirements for such automatic call systems in 2014.

“The industry is committed to drastically reducing the number of deaths involving motor vehicles,” ACEA, the European auto makers group, says in a statement. But the group cautions that roadside and supporting telecommunications infrastructure must be in place for the new system to be effective.

“Public-service answering points must be ready in all member states, and mobile network operators need to be prepared before in-vehicle systems are enforced,” the statement says.

According to the ACEA, October 2015 is a narrow window for having everything in place and ready to work.

“Considering the member states' requirement for working infrastructure to be in place, the time needed for legislative procedure and the need to assess the technical and legal challenges, this target date is highly ambitious,” says Ivan Hodac, ACEA secretary general.