Black box and ‘speed assistant’ will be mandatory in cars in EU by May 2022

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The European Commission and the European Parliament have agreed that every new car sold from May 2022 must have a set of mandatory safety measures, including an ‘intelligent speed assistant’ and a black box.

The agreement between the two EU legislative bodies means that almost thirty different functions or systems will be mandatory in new cars. The majority of these will already be mandatory by May 2022 for new models that have not yet been designed; from 2024, the obligation will apply to existing models. The rules apply to cars, vans, trucks and buses.

According to the European Parliament’s rapporteur, Róża Thun, the new legislation will save thousands of road deaths in the coming years. In 2017, 25,300 people were killed and 135,000 people were seriously injured on roads across all EU Member States. The EU legislator wants the new car safety systems to bring these numbers down.

Among other things, the ‘intelligent speed assistant’ is mentioned, a system that, according to estimates, can lead to a 20 percent decrease in the number of road deaths. According to Thun, this system gives the driver feedback based on map information and road signs. That would only happen if the speed limit is violated.

In addition, it concerns measures and systems such as an automated emergency braking function, a warning system if the driver is distracted, a system that warns to keep to the lane, a reversing camera or sensor system and an emergency stop signal. Furthermore, manufacturers must facilitate the installation of alcohol interlocks, which in themselves does not make these systems mandatory. Event data recorders are also made mandatory; these store information from a few seconds before a crash.

The new rules in the form of a regulation have been agreed by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council, but have yet to be approved by member states and an EU Parliamentary Committee. The rules must then be given the green light from the entire parliament and the Council of Ministers.

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