Skip to main content

MEPs call for driver-assistance systems to made compulsory for new cars

Following over 25,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of injuries on Europe’s roads each year, 90% of which are caused by human error, MEPs are calling for new cars to be equipped with lifesaving driver assistance systems in a draft resolution. Three-quarters of new cars are still not equipped with the systems due to the extra cost. In response, the resolution suggests only making features compulsory that are already available on the market such as automatic emergency braking systems with pedestrian and
November 17, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

Following over 25,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of injuries on Europe’s roads each year, 90% of which are caused by human error, MEPs are calling for new cars to be equipped with lifesaving driver assistance systems in a draft resolution.

Three-quarters of new cars are still not equipped with the systems due to the extra cost. In response, the resolution suggests only making features compulsory that are already available on the market such as automatic emergency braking systems with pedestrian and cyclist detection.

The systems vary and can also automatically slow a car down to avoid a collision and assist drivers to remain within speed limits. Other systems can start beeping or steer a car back when the driver drifts out of the lane.

MEPs are also looking to assess the possible added value of cutting the blood alcohol limit to zero for new drivers and professional drivers across the EU.

German EPP member Dieter-Lebrecht Koch, author of the non-binding resolution, said: “Whether as drivers, pedestrians or cyclists – we all make mistakes. And in those cases automatic assistance systems are like silent co-pilots that help us avoid accidents.”

Related Content

  • AVs and bombs: a sinister possibility
    November 6, 2019
    Vehicle-ramming attacks by terrorists on pedestrians – often involving multiple fatalities - are sobering reminders of how cars and vans can be used for ill. But a recent court case in the UK highlights a sinister use of newer technology
  • The benefits of combining enforcement and traffic management
    February 27, 2013
    Jason Barnes considers how combining enforcement equipment with other traffic management technologies might benefit our future – if only the will were really in place to do so. During the ITS World Congress in Vienna in October last year, Navtech Radar and Vysion­ics ITS announced a strategic partnership that would combine the expertise of Navtech in millimetre-wave wide-area surveillance technology with Vysionics’ machine vision-based automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and average speed measurement
  • Derq predicts violations and saves lives
    June 7, 2018
    Derq has teamed up with FLIR and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDoT) to pilot new V2X applications at a busy intersection in Detroit, using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict and prevent vehicle-and pedestrian related-accidents. Located at Jefferson Avenue and Randolph Street near downtown, the pilot uses technology that can predict red light violations and vulnerable pedestrians and bicyclists that are approaching the intersection. Derq AI algorithms analyse video feeds from two FLIR came
  • Europe lagging behind on standard ESC deployment
    February 18, 2014
    According to Frost & Sullivan, the European Electronic Stability Control (ESC) market is expected to reach a market value of close to US$2.7 billion by 2020. Among the various original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), it is the upper tiers in the pyramid that attract maximum fitment rates, with the German big three claiming close to 100 per cent fitment across the eight segments they cater to. ESC is the most dominant enabler for active and passive safety technologies. Built into a car, it is crucial to a