Within three years all new vehicles in the European Union will be required to have the latest advanced safety technology, such as automatic emergency braking and lanekeeping systems for cars, and pedestrian- and cyclist-detection systems for trucks.
“These two measures could save up to 10,500 lives and avoid close to 60,000 serious injuries over 2020-2030,” a European Commission statement says.
The measures are part of sweeping proposals to modernise Europe’s transport system that include an integrated policy for the future of road safety in the next decade, a plan for the development and manufacture of batteries and a strategy for connected and automated mobility.
The Commission’s proposals for 2021-2030 confirm the EU’s long-term goal of moving close to zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2050, with an interim target of a 50% reduction between 2020 and 2030. Within three years all new models must have 11 advanced safety features including advanced emergency braking, lanekeeping, intelligent speed assistance and distracted-driver recognition.
The Commission’s analysis finds the proposals will have little or no impact on the price of new vehicles, but lives saved and injuries avoided would lead to societal benefits of €73bn ($86.1bn).
The EU’s ambitious agenda to prepare for the rollout of fully automated and connected mobility technologies calls for €300m ($354m) in R&D spending.
