The EU has formally outlined its "road map" for car safety based on the introduction of a range of features in new cars which, it hopes, will cut the number of road deaths by 50 per cent by the year 2010.
Over the course of the next seven years the Commission, with the co-operation of the European motor industry, will gradually introduce a series of safety features that will become standard on all new European new models.
Although the major players in the industry are already researching the impact of the new features on road safety, the Commission is allocating €160 million to offset the costs their implementation to the private sector.
Speaking at a safety conference in Madrid last week, European Commissioner Erkki Liikanen said that, currently, there was not sufficient business interest in introducing active safety systems.
"The industry has demonstrated its capability to innovate and bring advanced active safety systems to the markets," Liikanen said.
"It is clear that if the wide-spread take-up of active safety systems is to be realised, it will need the full support of the public sector."
Among the new features which the motor industry has undertaken to introduce are:
• 2004: Anti-Lock Braking Systems: from July 1st 2004 will be a feature of all new cars coming on to the market.
• 2005: Electronic Stability Programmes: although a feature of high-end cars, the Commission wants this in all new cars by 2005.
• 2006: eCall; With e-Call accurate vehicle location and additional safety-related information is passed to the Public Service Answering Point. Such information dramatically cuts down emergency response times.
• 2007: Collision Warning and Mitigation systems(CWM). Some cars using this system are already on the market, but their functionality and underlying technical specifications vary greatly. Their introduction faces a number of regulatory and liability hurdles.
• 2008: Safe Speed. Speed limit warning systems are already available on some markets.
The key to the majority of these initiatives is the development of a ultra-wide band automotive short-range radar (SRR) operating at 24 GHz.
Although there is no legal requirement for motor manufacturers to adopt the new measures, most have voluntary signed up already.
In addition, a new Directive outlining the responsibility the industry had towards pedestrian safety will mean that if the measures are not adopted by manufacturer, their liability towards pedestrians injured in a road accident will increase dramatically.