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

  • EU draft on road pricing adopts ‘user pays’ principle
    October 31, 2018
    Draft rules have been adopted by European policy makers which would bring the idea of widescale ‘user pays’ road pricing one step closer. European Union member states which currently use time-based road user charges will need to switch to distance-based ones for trucks and buses (over 2.4 tonnes) from 2023, and vans and minibuses from 2027, if the rules are made into law. The idea is that vehicles would then be charged according to their actual road use and the pollution they generate. The ‘user
  • New research predicts growth of autonomous parking technology
    March 9, 2016
    New research by ABI Research forecasts that shipments of new cars featuring autonomous parking technologies to grow at 35 per cent CAGR between 2016 and 2026 and for revenues to likewise show growth at 29.5 per cent CAGR. ABI Research identifies three phases of autonomous parking, with each successive stage set to gradually displace the former and all three coexisting to some degree over the next decade. Ultimately, technology will reach a point in which the car parks itself entirely, with no driver assi
  • Will the European Electronic Tolling System serve its purpose?
    February 3, 2012
    ASECAP's Kallistratos Dionelis asks whether, despite the best intentions at the policy level, the European Electronic Tolling System can ever hope to serve the customer in the way it is intended to. Reality doesn't just happen. In many ways, reality is created. We first create or produce a reality and then we consume it; this takes time and has a cost that needs to be covered.
  • The long road to Spanish enlightenment
    October 22, 2018
    Julián Núñez, immediate past president of ASECAP, gets his teeth into the vision of a European strategy for toll roads. David Arminas reports from Madrid. Getting European politicians to agree to a long-term cross-border highway infrastructure programme for toll roads is extremely difficult. It’s a bit like pulling teeth: people want to avoid the pain. But pain is something that Spanish operators, including Abertis, OHL, ACS, FCC and Acciona, have been going through for the past decade. The country has