The European Commission has approved the legislation, which was proposed last year and provisionally approved last month, in a bid to improve road safety. The legislation is due to come into effect from May 2022 for new models that haven’t been designed yet and May 2024 for new versions of models currently on the market. The measures are subject to the formal approval of the European Parliament and EU member states in September.
The legislation will make it compulsory for new cars to be fitted with intelligent speed assistance (ISA) systems, which can use GPS data and sign-recognition cameras to advise drivers of speed limits and, unless overridden, can limit the speed of the vehicle as needed, by way of reducing engine power. Cars will also need to be fitted with an alcohol interlock system, in an attempt to prevent drunk driving.
Distraction monitors will use cameras that can detect when a driver is impaired, tired or not paying attention, and then prompt them to react. Volvo recently announced that it would fit such systems on its vehicles as standard.
The safety features that will become mandatory in passenger cars are:
- Advanced automatic emergency braking systems
- Lane departure warning systems
- Intelligent speed assistance
- Alcohol interlock installation facilitation
- Driver drowsiness and attention warning
- Advanced driver distraction warning
- Emergency stop signal
- Reversing cameras or detectors
- Accident data recorder
Several of the systems, including AEB, are already widely available and standard on many models, in part because they are now required for a car to score the maximum five stars in the Euro NCAP safety tests.
The European Commission estimates that the measures will save more than 25,000 lives by 2038. Under the new rules, manufacturers will have to ensure the systems are developed in a way that ensures “users accept them”.
