Today, the European Parliament will debate a report on "intelligent cars". Labour MEPs are calling for the adoption of several measures designed to improve safety and cut the number of accidents and deaths on European roads.
Forty thousand people die on Europe's roads every year - the size of a small town. Members of the European Parliament have been looking at modern technology and designs which could help reduce that figure. These features include a stabiliser system which would give the driver a warning sound if they started to veer out of lane. It's estimated that this technology could help save 4,000 lives each year. The report will also call for the speedier introduction of an e-call emergency system across Europe - this would automatically alert call centres across Europe to a driver's exact location in the event of an accident.
Robert Evans MEP, Labour Member of the European Parliament's Transport Committee, called on car manufacturers to make these features cheaper and available to all. "At a time when a lot of people are not sure how they benefit from European wide rules, this is a good example. Cars driven on UK roads are as likely to have been made in Italy, France or Germany as they are here. By agreeing on common EU wide standards we are showing how intelligent car technologies have the potential to make our roads safer and protect our environment. This is something everyone should want to support and for which the EU can be proud."
The report also focuses on the impact of our current car use on the environment and public health.
Brian Simpson, Transport Spokesperson for the Socialist Group in the European Parliament and Member of the Transport Committee, said: "12% of all EU emissions of CO2 come from car usage. Information and communication technologies are essential in reducing fuel consumption and overall emissions. Adoptive cruise control, which automatically adapts the speed of the car to surrounding traffic, could cut fuel consumption in a car by 3% a year."
For more information please call the European Parliamentary Labour Party press officer, Silke Thomson on +32 479 790 053.
European Parliamentary Labour Party, European Parliament, Rue Wiertz, 1047 BRUSSELS, Belgium
