All new light commercial vehicles in Europe under 3.5t will have to be equipped to make an automatic call to emergency services in the event of an accident from 2015.
The EU has legislated to introduce the system, called eCall, to all passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. The GPS-linked phone system will automatically dial 112 - Europe's single emergency number - in the event of a serious accident, communicating the vehicle's location to emergency services, even if the driver is unconscious or unable to make a phone call.
The system is expected to add less than €100 (£84.41) to the costs of a new vehicle. It is being adopted to help save up to an estimated 2,500 lives on Europe's roads each year, by speeding emergency response times by 40% in urban areas and 50% in the countryside.
In addition to the road safety benefits, eCall is expected to have a significant impact on reducing the congestion caused by traffic accidents and on reducing secondary accidents caused by unsecured accident sites.
The European Commission stated that the equipment for the in-vehicle system could also be used for additional added value services such as “advanced insurances schemes”and the ability to track stolen vehicles.
By Andrew Stone.
