EU to make speed limiters, driver monitors mandatory

Plans to mandate automakers to fit almost 30 advanced safety systems on all new cars in Europe, including speed limiters and monitors that detect drowsy or distracted drivers, were welcomed by suppliers and safety groups.

The European Commission said the move will reduce accidents, pave the way toward more connected and automated mobility, and boost innovation in the region's car industry.

The advanced safety technologies could have the same kind of impact as when the safety belts were first introduced, the EU’s industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said in a statement.

Many of the new features already exist on cars, in particular in high–end vehicles, she said.

Volvo said on March 20 that it will install cameras and sensors in its next-generation cars to intervene if drivers appear to be drunk or distracted.

The new rules will be a "great leap forward" for road safety, Antonio Avenoso, head of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) said in a statement.

The European automotive suppliers' association, CLEPA, welcomed the 2022 timeframe so the technology can be introduced swiftly on future models.

The so-called General Safety Regulation will require safety features to be fitted as standard on new cars including:

• Technology that warns the driver in case of drowsiness or distraction, for example using a smartphone while driving.
• Intelligent speed assistance (ISA) technology that can automatically prevent drivers from exceeding the speed limit using road-sign recognition cameras and GPS-linked speed limit databases
• Reversing safety with camera or sensors
• A data recorder (black box) in case of an accident
• Lane-keeping assistance.

ACEA, the European automakers lobby group, described the new regulations as "challenging." It said automakers should not be made to shoulder the burden alone.

"Vehicle technology alone will not be sufficient. For maximum effect, policy makers must now push for a fully integrated approach to road safety; combining vehicle technology with better road infrastructure and safer driver behavior," ACEA said in a statement on Tuesday

ACEA has in the past opposed the introduction of Intelligent Speed Assistance. It said the technology shows too many false warnings due to incorrect speed limit information.

The European Commission is proposing to make the advanced safety features mandatory on new cars starting in 2022. The move will help save over 25,000 lives in Europe by 2038, it said. The Commission has previously said the new safety technology "would have little or no impact on the price of new vehicles."

More passive safety tech

ACEA has criticized proposals in the new regulation that will require automakers to update their passive safety to better protect occupants and other road users in the event of a crash. The regulation mandates passive safety features such as improved side impact crash protection and a wider head impact zone on the hood area.

ACEA said the passive safety proposals will only deliver "incremental improvements at disproportionate cost" and that future regulations should concentrate only on active safety features.

The General Safety Regulation is now expected to be approved by the European Parliament and Council. "Most of the time this goes forward without problem," an ETSC spokesman said. One complication could be that it’s likely to happen after the European parliamentary elections in May, the spokesman said.