The European Parliament approved a regulation on Tuesday that new vehicles sold in the European Union from 2022 onwards will be equipped with safety technologies such as intelligent speed adjustment and emergency braking systems.
The regulation stipulates that, within three years, all new vehicles – passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, lorries and buses – must be equipped with intelligent speed adjustment system, pre-installation of alcohol, drowsiness and attention of the driver, advanced driver distraction warning, emergency braking, reversing obstacle detection and a black box.
On one of the main innovations, the Intelligent Speed Adaptation System, the rapporteur of the Parliament, Rózà Thun, explained that this device “will provide indications to the driver, based on maps and observation of road signs, when the limit of speed is exceeded “.
“We have not introduced a speed limiter, but an intelligent system to alert drivers that they are speeding. This will not only make us safer but will also help drivers avoid speeding tickets,” he said. the regulation allows this system to be switched off.
The new rules, adopted today in the Strasbourg Chamber (France), with 578 votes in favour, 30 against and 25 abstentions, also provide that cars and light commercial vehicles also have to include an advanced emergency braking system which already is mandatory for lorries and buses, and a road clearance warning system.
Tire pressure monitoring systems shall apply to all categories of vehicles.
Finally, the new rules lay down specific requirements for lorries and buses, which require that they are designed and constructed in such a way as to maximize the direct visibility of vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists, reducing as far as possible the front and sides of the driver.
The new rules, which aim to help reduce the number of accidents on European roads and protect pedestrians and cyclists, also opening the way for the development of automated vehicles, are applicable from May 2022.
According to preliminary data recently published by the European Commission, some 25,100 people lost their lives on European roads and about 135,000 were seriously injured last year, with an estimated 90% of road accidents resulting from some level of error human.
