EPP Group favours rapid introduction of eCall: new cars as life savers

Every new car in Europe will get a device which alerts medical, police and fire services automatically after an accident. This will be obligatory from October 2015, the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection decided this morning.

Wim van de Camp MEP, one of the negotiators, is delighted with the outcome: "This device can save lives. We have been discussing its introduction for 10 years now so it is high time to start building the device in every new model. The manufacturers indicated they expect difficulties meeting this deadline, but they must try harder. This will be good for all of us."

Some car manufacturers have already built this device in certain types of cars. Thanks to the eCall system, emergency services know exactly the location of the accident.

Almost 28,000 people lost their lives in road accidents in the European Union in 2012. The EU now wants to make a high-tech contribution to reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on the roads.

One of the debates regarding this proposal was which emergency call centre the car should call. It doesn't necessarily have to be 112. It could be a manufacturer’s emergency centre. Wim van de Camp favours such an option: "Car buyers will get more choices and emergency call centres will be less burdened."

The vote in the Parliamentary Committee is an indicator of the outcome of the vote in the Parliament’s plenary which will take place probably later this month. Parliament will negotiate the eCall Regulation with the EU Member States this Spring.