Strasbourg, 03/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - In just a few years, the safety belt and the airbag have become essential to road safety. MEPs trust that the same will be true for the eCall system. They have therefore adopted a resolution for the introduction of this mandatory system, which would be free of charge, by 2015. The resolution was pushed through on Tuesday 3 July by MEPs Olga Sehnalova (S&D, Czech Republic) and Dieter-Lebrecht Koch (EPP, Germany). In their view, member states have lagged behind for too long when it comes to deploying a life-saving emergency system on a voluntary basis. They are therefore calling on the Commission to no longer leave the decision up to the member states, by making the system compulsory.
Legislative kick-start. ECall is a device fitted onto vehicles. In the event of shock, it will alert the rescue services to road crashes automatically using the 112 public emergency call system. The place where the accident has occurred is immediately notified and rescue services can arrive at the scene of the accident more rapidly. “The system cannot prevent accidents but it can make rescue systems more effective and faster”, explained Sehnalova. Thus, 2,500 lives could be saved each year as, as things stand, fewer than 1% of vehicles are fitted with eCall, although the technology is ready for use. The Parliament thus hopes to compel member states to use the system, calling on the Commission to make it mandatory to fit the eCall system on all new cars in 2015, possibly via legislative regulation. This, added Koch, is all the more justified as “80% of respondents are in favour of eCall. If citizens ask us to do something about it, then we must, and we are on the right lines for doing so”.
Free of charge - data protection. The eCall service via the emergency number 112 must be free of charge for all, MEPs stress. However, they do acknowledge that additional services would be pay services: “Other functions could be bought as extras, such as insurance data”, said Koch. Sehnalova, however, was very dismissive of concerns regarding data protection saying: “The system is activated by elements that register shocks. We are strict about that. It should not be possible to record the routes taken by vehicles on any other occasions”. (MD/transl.jl)