EC wants automatic car emergency call system in place by 2015
The first measure to ensure that by 2015 cars can dial emergency services automatically in the event of a serious accident has been adopted by the European Commission today.
The Commission wants the life-saving eCall system to be fitted to all new models of cars and light vehicles from 2015.
The eCall system automatically dials Europe's single emergency number 112 in the event of a serious accident and communicates the vehicle's location to the emergency services.
A Commission recommendation adopted September 8, urges member states to ensure that mobile phone network operators upgrade their infrastructure so that eCalls are efficiently passed on to emergency services.
"Every minute is crucial to save lives and reduce the severity of injuries when emergency services are called to a road accident," said a European Commission statement.
"Yet people injured in an accident do not always have the reflex or the physical ability to call emergency services immediately.
"eCall devices address this problem by alerting emergency services immediately even if the driver or passenger is unconscious or otherwise unable to call. The technology speeds up the arrival of emergency teams by an estimated 40% in urban areas and 50% in rural areas."
"Once widely deployed, eCall will save several hundred lives in Europe every year, and reduce the severity of injuries and trauma in tens of thousands of cases."
Neelie Kroes, Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda, said "I am delighted that we have taken the first step to ensure that millions of citizens will benefit from eCall, a system that can slash the time emergency services need to arrive at road accidents. eCall will save hundreds of lives and reduce the pain and suffering of road accident victims."
The Commission's aim is for a fully functional eCall service to be in place all over the European Union (as well as Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) by 2015.
