eCall: A little device for a huge step in road safety

Up to 2500 lives can be saved annually and the number of severe injuries can be vastly limited with the in-vehicle emergency call (eCall) device. The time needed by rescue services to arrive at the scene of an accident can be shortened by as much as 50 percent in rural regions and up to 40 percent in urban regions.

What is eCall?

In case of a severe accident, this satellite-based system automatically sends out an emergency call and establishes a 112-voice connection directly with the relevant Public Safety Answering Point. At the same time, a minimum set of data, including key information about the accident, such as time, location and vehicle description, is automatically sent to the operator to enable the rescue service to be best prepared when arriving at the accident.

In addition to the automatic activation of the emergency call, the device can also be activated manually, which could be helpful in the case of a heart attack, for example, or also to alarm the rescue service about an accident that has been witnessed.

eCall and the EU

A Commission recommendation to make eCall road accident reporting devices mandatory on all new cars and light commercial vehicles sold in the EU from 2015 was welcomed by Transport Committee MEPs in September 2011. The regulations required to put this into practice are now being dealt with.

A motion for a resolution co-authored by German MEP Dieter-Lebrecht Koch on the regulatory introduction of eCall will be put to a vote in the Transport Committee on 19 June.

Although the proposals have no immediate legal effect, Dr Koch hopes to encourage Member States to implement the infrastructure he feels is needed to vastly improve road safety.

"It is important to know that the system is not sending out any data regarding the positioning of the vehicle as long as eCall is not activated. The system sleeps so to speak," he also explained. He is one of the principal supporters of the system.

What are the issues at stake?

The EPP Group is very much in favour of basing eCall on the existing 112-emergency number. Private emergency calls are, however, compatible with the system as they are offered anyway by some brands of car.

An automatic call-back from the rescue coordination centre is made once the minimum amount of data has been released by the emergency call. The EPP Group believes that this is necessary for helping the victim foremostly, but also to prevent malpractice.

The aim is to provide the call-back in the mother tongue of the victim, regardless of the Member State from which he or she is sending the eCall. Dr Koch aims to put pressure on Member States to implement this as soon as possible.

Technically, the device can be implemented as a mobile solution, like using a bluetooth-compatible mobile, or as an embedded solution. For Dr Koch, the embedded solution brings many more advantages than the mobile solution: "Contrary to the mobile, the embedded device can never be forgotten, will remain visible and fixed in place in case of an accident and will therefore be easier for rescue services to find. From my point of view, every car should be equipped with an embedded eCall system as standard".

Intelligent-Transport-System solutions, like indications for available truck parking places or real-time traffic information can be combined in the same device with eCall, thanks to a kind of (open technical platform) black-box. "In future, every truck and all bikes should be equipped with this device because this little technical kit represents a huge step towards safer roads", concludes Koch.

What next?

The proposals by Dr Koch and Olga Sehnalová will be voted on in a joint meeting of the Committees on Transport and Tourism and Internal Market and Consumer Protection on 19 June. A vote by all MEPs in plenary is scheduled to place in July.