New advanced vehicle safety features will become mandatory in 2022 across EU

New advanced vehicle safety features will become mandatory in 2022 across EU

(PRESS RELEASE) BRUSSELS, 26-Mar-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — Provisional political agreement on the revised General Safety Regulation has just been reached by the EU institutions. Passengers, pedestrians and cyclists will be better protected as new safety technologies will become mandatory across EU in 2022.

Some 90% of all fatalities and injuries on our roads are caused by human errors and new technologies on the market can help reduce that number.

Last year, the Commission proposed things like the dangerous blind spots on trucks and buses and technology that warns the driver in case of drowsiness or distraction to become mandatory as part of vehicle safety measures aimed at helping save lives.

Number of accidents are expected to be reduced due to advanced safety features, which will pave the way towards increasingly connected and automated mobility, and boost the global innovation and competitiveness edge of the European car industry.

The European Parliament and the Council are now expected to approve formally the political agreement reached by the European Parliament, Council and Commission in the so-called trilogue negotiations.

2022 is set for the new safety features to become mandatory in EU. Exception is made for only direct vision for trucks and buses and enlarged head impact zone on cars and vans, which will follow later due to the necessary structural design changes.

The proposed car safety features that will become mandatory in the European Union from 2022:

• Advanced emergency braking (cars, vans)
• Alcohol interlock installation facilitation (cars,
  vans, trucks, buses)
• Drowsiness and attention detection (cars, vans,
  trucks, buses)
• Distraction recognition / prevention (cars, vans,
  trucks, buses)
• Event (accident) data recorder (cars, vans, trucks,
  buses)
• Emergency stop signal (cars, vans, trucks, buses)
• Full-width frontal occupant protection crash test –
  improved seatbelts (cars and vans)
• Head impact zone enlargement for pedestrians
  and cyclists -safety glass in case of crash (cars and
  vans)
• Intelligent speed assistance (cars, vans, trucks,
  buses)
• Lane keeping assist (cars, vans)
• Pole side impact occupant protection (cars, vans)
• Reversing camera or detection system (cars, vans,
  trucks, buses)
• Tyre pressure monitoring system (vans, trucks,
  buses)
• Vulnerable road user detection and warning on
  front and side of vehicle (trucks and buses)
• Vulnerable road user improved direct vision from
  driver’s position (trucks and buses)

Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, responsible for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs: 

“Every year, 25,000 people lose their lives on our roads. The vast majority of these accidents are caused by human error. We can and must act to change this. With the new advanced safety features that will become mandatory, we can have the same kind of impact as when the safety belts were first introduced. Many of the new features already exist, in particular in high–end vehicles. Now we raise the safety level across the board, and pave the way for connected and automated mobility of the future.”

The measures proposed will help save over 25,000 lives and avoid at least 140,000 serious injuries by 2038, according to the European Commission and this is expected to contribute to the EU’s long-term goal of moving close to zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2050 (“Vision Zero”).

The new advanced safety features in the vehicles will help drivers get gradually used to the new driving assistance. Automation, for instance, offers significant potential to compensate the human errors and will as well offer new mobility solutions for the elderly and physically impaired. Those measures, among others, are expected to enhance public acceptance of and trust in automated cars, supporting the transition towards autonomous driving.

What has been done so far:

Over the past few years, a range of mandatory measures have been introduced by the EU, which have contributed to an estimated reduction of 50,000 fatal traffic casualties per year. Electronic stability control systems on all vehicles, as well as advanced emergency braking systems and lane departure warning systems on trucks and buses are part of those measures.

The public consultation with the stakeholders on potential improvements to current vehicle safety measures has been launched in 2017. In May 2018, the Commission then proposed a review of the General Safety Regulation and the Pedestrian Safety Regulation, under the Third “Europe on the Move” set of actions. The revised General Safety Regulation goes hand in hand with an efficient safety management of road infrastructure, where the Commission’s proposal was agreed in February 2019.

The European Commission has also presented a Communication on Connected and Automated Mobility to make Europe a world leader for autonomous and safe mobility systems. As a first deliverable for connected mobility the Commission had adopted new rules that step up the deployment of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) on roads in Europe. The C-ITS allow vehicles to ‘talk’ to each other, to the road infrastructure, and to other road users – for instance about dangerous situations, road works and the timing of traffic lights, making road transport safer, cleaner and more efficient.

SOURCE: European Commission