Brussels, 08/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - Unveiling its draft regulation on the protection of pedestrians on Monday 8 October, the European Commission stressed that the new regulation would force car manufacturers to incorporate a new type of emergency braking system, BAS (Brake Assist Systems, a generic term for a car braking technology that increases braking pressure in an emergency situation) in new cars, on top of the already compulsory ABS (anti-lock braking systems). From 2009 onwards when the regulation is expected to come into force, car manufacturers will have to incorporate BAS in all new cars in addition to the ABS made compulsory by Directive 2003/102/EC on pedestrian safety.
The draft regulation will merge Directive 2003/102/EC on pedestrian safety with Directive 2005/66/EC on the use of frontal protection systems (bull bars), simplifying the two-phase performance tests systems which had been planned to apply from 2010 onwards (industry argued that the rules were not feasible) and introducing active safety measures (alleviating the conditions under which impact may take place during accidents, as opposed to passive safety measures which help reduce injury levels on impact by provision of softer surfaces). The draft regulation stipulates that by 2015 all new vehicles will have to meet amended performance test requirements and by nine months of the regulation coming into force, all new vehicles will have to be equipped with Brake Assist Systems.
According to European Commission estimates, this BAS obligation, if applied to all vehicles on the road in the EU, would save the lives of 1100 pedestrians a year (some 8000 cyclists and pedestrians are killed in road accidents every year in the EU) and would thereby contribute to the objective of the 2001 European Commission White Paper on Transport which consists of halving road deaths by 2010 (aby)