eCall to save 3000 lives

(CH) Motorists who find themselves involved in an accident should not have to wait too long for assistance thanks to a new law passed by the European Commision.

Today (Thursday) Brussels adopted a new resolution ensuring that all new cars sold in Europe are equipped with an eCall system by 2015.

The eCall technology would equip all cars with an automatic emergency call system which alerts rescue teams in case of an accident, potentially saving the lives of thousands of road accident victims.

As a first step, the institution is urging all EU member states to coordinate with telephone operators to adapt their infrastructures to the new technology. The operators should make sure that the calls can be launched and received from anywhere in the member state and that they are treated as a priority, just like any other emergency calls.

The Commission plans to complete an existing directive on intelligent transport systems with “specifications for technology adaptation and emergency response centres”.

Furthermore, Brussels wants the equipment not only adapted by latest 2015 throughout the European Union but also in Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

Emergency assistance quicker and more adapted

The principle of eCall is based on a series of sensors around the vehicle. Detecting an accident – a triggered airbag for instance – the eCall would automatically launch a call to the 112.

In case the system does not trigger or if the driver attends an accident scene without necessarily being involved himself, then the eCall can be activated manually.

Also, a voice communication should automatically be established between the vehicle and the emergency call centre so that passengers can provide details on their situation – if they are able to.

At the same time, the operators of the emergency call centre would receive a minimum set of data such as GPS location or vehicle type and will know whether the eCall was triggered automatically or manually.

Depending on the gathered information, the emergency call centre would then be able to deploy appropriate resources and deal with the incident.

Yearly up to 3,000 lives saved

The eCall has already been tested in 16 countries in the European Union. Three cars travelled 16,000 km and sent 15,000 messages in order to test the effectiveness of the device which, according to Brussels, could save 2,500 to 3,000 lives a year in the EU and significantly reduce the severity of injuries in 15% of cases.

The new system would cost drivers about 300€, so less than 1% of the full cost of the vehicle over its useful life.

In Europe, the infrastructures would cost around 4.5 billion € per year.

But in regard to the saved lives, it could save almost 26 billion € every year in emergency, care and other expenses.