New European E-Call device a revolution for road safety – Hayes

Fine Gael MEP for Dublin, Brian Hayes has today welcomed confirmation that a vote on a new EU wide emergency call system for new cars will take place at the Strasbourg Plenary in April. This is a revolution for safety on the roads and a technological first for the car industry in Europe. It is an example of Europe at its best.

If voted through Parliament the “E-Call” system will be required to be installed in all new cars from 2018 on. The system would automatically alert emergency services when an accident occurs.

“I fully support this new initiative. Every year emergency services across the EU deal with road accidents which in 2013 took 26,000 lives across the EU. Too many people are dying on our roads. Every minute counts when it comes to a road accident. It is estimated that “E-Call” when fully operational could potentially save 2,500 lives per year across the EU.

“The device would purely work as a safety device. There will be no monitoring of motorists movements. When a crash occurs the system will automatically send a message to emergency services stating the type of car, the fuel type, time of accident and the location. This will then allow emergency services plan the quickest route to the accident. Getting to the scene of an accident quickly can obviously save lives.

“If successfully passed in Strasbourg next month all new cars would be fitted with the new technology from 31st March 2018.”