Smart car must hit the European road in 2010

Smart car technology can prevent thousands of accidents every year, says the European Commission, which has made the smart car one of the showpieces of its i2010strategy for growth and development in the digital economy. In addition to safety, intelligent car technology should also contribute to a cleaner environment and the prevention of traffic congestion. Traffic jams cost €50 billion a year, or 0.5 percent of the EU’s gross output, a figure that could double in four years, the Commission warns.

Four systems are specifically eligible to be implemented in cars in order to increase road safety. Firstly, the Commission mentions the automatic calling of emergency services in the event of an accident. That could reduce the number of road deaths by five to ten percent and also reduce traffic congestion caused by the accident by ten to twenty percent, saving two to four billion euros. Second, autonomous cruise control systems, which monitor the distance between cars driving in front and behind, could prevent up to 4,000 accidents a year if they are in just 3% of the cars. Third, systems that warn if a car deviates from its lane on the highway would prevent 14,000 accidents if recorded in seven percent of cars. Finally, the Commission advocates the inclusion of wake-up systems against drowsy drivers. These, if implemented in all cars, could prevent 30 percent of all fatal highway accidents and 9 percent of all fatal accidents.

It is unclear which systems, if any, the Commission intends to require, but given that accident reduction figures for all cars are listed for both the automatic call system and the wake-up system, it may be those systems that drivers will have to purchase in four years’ time, or which will be mandatory in new cars. be built-in.