All new cars to be equipped with eCall devices from April 2018

The installation of new digital technologies into motor vehicles in an effort to improve road safety is a key interest of the European Commission’s Digital Agenda. The eCall system is an initiative which automatically dials 112, Europe’s universal emergency number, in the event of a serious accident and communicates the vehicle’s exact location and time of the incident, direction of travel and even driver consciousness.

On April 28 2015, the European Parliament voted in favour of the regulation to fit all new cars with eCall devices from April 2018. The EU suggests that eCall would “cut emergency services response time down to 50% in the countryside and 60% in built-up areas, potentially saving hundreds of lives in the EU every year.”

Steer Davies Gleave contributed to the debate surrounding this technology by supporting the European Parliament with an analysis of a complementary hardware device – Event Data Recorders (EDR) – which could work in conjunction with eCall technology to help improve the safety performance of EU roads. 

EDR’s are able to record a number of parameters such as speed when an accident occurs, which could assist in the investigation into the causes of accidents and help to prevent future incidents, as well as encouraging a more vigilant driving behaviour.  

In light of the progress made on the eCall regulation, SDG proposed the possibility of combining eCall technology with EDR functionalities. However, the issue of correct registration and processing of EDR data would need to be treated carefully as the data would track a driver’s movements and driving habits.  

For more information, please contact Roberta Frisoni, [email protected]