News - Page 4
Vehicles equipped with automated emergency braking are much less likely to crash into the rear of other vehicles, the US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has found in a study of the feature’s effectiveness using police-reported crash data. Systems with automatic braking reduce rear-end crashes by about 40 percent on average. The autobrake systems also greatly reduce injury crashes. “The success of front crash prevention represents a big step toward safer roads,” said David Zuby, IIHS chief research officer. “As this technology becomes more […]
Global NCAP, the international network of new car safety assessment programmes, has written to Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault after the company ran adverts in Uruguay for the Megane III misleadingly accompanied by a Euro NCAP five star rating. Renault sells a local version of the Megane III in Latin America that has not been tested by Euro NCAP or Latin NCAP. The company does not currently sell a vehicle in Latin America that has received a five star rating from Latin NCAP. In […]
In response to the dieselgate scandal, the European Commission last month proposed major changes to the oversight of the technical environmental and safety compliance checks new car models must undergo before being approved for sale on the European market. The proposal designed, in the Commission’s words, ‘to correct the flaws in the system’ has three stated aims: Reinforce the independence and quality of testing that allows a car to be placed on the market; Introduce an effective market surveillance system to control the conformity […]
The taxi service Uber has announced it is trialling technology to track the speed, acceleration and braking of its drivers using smartphone sensors. The company describes the process as designed to help verify complaints from passengers of poor driving but says it has broader plans to ensure drivers maintain appropriate speeds and are not distracted. The US-based company announced in November that it would create a permanent global safety advisory board to oversee the safety and personal security issues related to the service. ETSC […]
A survey for the UK road safety campaigners Brake has shown that 63% of drivers would be happy for Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology to help prevent them speeding while driving. The survey found 32% of drivers are willing to have a mandatory ISA system that cannot be overridden, while a further 31% would be interested in an overridable form of the system. Several vehicles already on the market, including the Ford S-Max and Volvo XC-90, already have such a feature. Trials have predicted […]
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is calling on governments around the world to apply the UN’s most important vehicle safety regulations. In its 2015 Global Status Report on Road Safety (published 19 October) the WHO reveals “worrying data showing that less than half of countries implement minimum standards” and warns that “Governments have a responsibility to take the steps needed to ensure their citizens have access to safe vehicles”. Using seven priority vehicle safety standards recommended by Global NCAP, the WHO has carried out […]
Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director For years, speed has been recognised as one of the three main contributing factors to deaths on our roads. And for more than a decade, ETSC has been advocating the benefits of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), a driver assistance system that a 2014 Norwegian study found to be the ‘most effective’ in saving lives. We are optimistic that 2016 could prove to be a turning point in wide adoption of the technology. ISA uses a speed sign-recognition video camera and/or […]
The Volkswagen Group has said it will commission an outside audit of its compliance with US safety reporting laws following allegations by Bloomberg that it failed to report lawsuits involving safety issues to the US regulator. Bloomberg reviewed 13 random lawsuits filed against Volkswagen in the last 11 years. Volkswagen had reported nine of them to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Four couldn’t be found in the database. They involved one death and three injuries described in lawsuits filed in 2007, […]
Cars fitted with fully-fledged Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) systems are starting to arrive in showrooms. The latest version of Ford’s S-Max and Galaxy, and Volvo’s XC90 can come factory-fitted with camera and GPS-based systems that alert the driver to the current speed limit and help prevent him or her from exceeding it. The systems can be activated and deactivated by the driver using steering wheel controls in a similar way to existing manual speed limiter and cruise control systems. Both vehicles have been awarded […]
ETSC is pleased to support the third annual UN Global Road Safety Week which runs from 4-10 May. This year’s events and actions are all about highlighting the plight of children on the world’s roads and generating action to better ensure their safety. How safe are European roads for children? Last year ETSC published new research into children killed in cars in the EU showing that, in 2012, at least 319 child car occupants aged 0 to 14 were killed. Our soon-to-be published report […]
A major new study for the European Commission has identified a range of new vehicle safety technologies that are suitable for mandatory fitting as part of a review of EU vehicle safety legislation. The report, carried out by consultants TRL, names technologies including Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), Automated Emergency Braking (AEB) and seat belt reminder systems in passenger seats as ‘feasible in terms of the technology required’, already available on the market and offering a positive benefit-cost ratio. Plans already agreed by the EU […]
Millions of new cars sold in middle and low income countries fail to meet the UN’s basic safety standards for front and side impacts according to international automotive safety watchdog Global NCAP. Speaking last month at the UN in Geneva during the launch of its new policy report, Democratising Car Safety: Road Map for Safer Cars 2020, Global NCAP Chairman Max Mosley said: “Safety improvements stimulated by legislation and consumer awareness campaigns in high income economies that have saved hundreds of thousands of lives […]
A report by the Dutch Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV) for 3M says retrofitting ‘contour markings’ – reflective strips on the edges of lorries – could prevent some 67,000 crashes, 2200 serious injuries and 420 deaths in Europe and the benefits would outweigh the costs overall. New and newly-licensed lorries must already be fitted with the markings in the EU. But the study investigated the benefits of retrofitting to existing older vehicles. See report (with summary in English) Disclosure: 3M is one of […]
Older HGVs will have to be retrofitted with sideguards and improved mirrors, or face being banned from London streets from September it has been announced. All roads in Greater London (except motorways) will be covered by the scheme. It will require vehicles of more than 3.5 tonnes to be fitted with sideguards to protect cyclists from being dragged under the wheels in the event of a collision, along with Class V and Class VI mirrors giving the driver a better view of cyclists and […]
Requiring in-vehicle Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) that can react to quick deflation in seconds rather than minutes is among the recommendations on improving tyre-related safety made to the European Commission in a study by Dutch researchers TNO. The researchers said the major safety concern of inflation pressure is “quick deflation that can lead to tyre blowout failure or vehicle instabilities. Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems can detect such events, however the current regulation prescribes a detection time of 10 minutes while a safety critical […]
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) says an EU deal to postpone new rules enabling safer lorry designs is a setback for road safety. Representatives of EU member states, the European Parliament and the European Commission met last night to hammer out an agreement on new legislation that enables, but does not require, manufacturers to make changes to lorry cabs that improve visibility and reduce the impact of crashes on other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. The final agreement, which is still subject to agreement […]
The European Transport Safety Council welcomes the final political agreement between the European Parliament and EU member states on mandatory installation of ‘eCall’, a system for sending automated emergency calls from cars in the event of a crash. The deal requires new models of car launched in the EU from 31 March 2018 to be fitted with the system. Separate legislation, already agreed by the European institutions requires member states to put in place the infrastructure to handle eCalls. Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of […]
A major new study for the European Commission has found considerable potential safety benefits and low costs for the installation of Electronic Data Recorders (EDRs) in cars, vans and lorries. The research, carried out by TRL in the UK, found that EDRs are already fitted to almost all new cars in Europe, and have been for some years. The systems are generally linked to the control units used to deploy airbags in the event of a collision. Most meet the minimum specification set by […]
by Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director Amidst the screaming headlines surrounding the possibility of an outbreak of Ebola in Europe over the last few weeks, I can’t help but question our society’s perception of risk. Less than a handful of people have died from Ebola in Europe and those that tragically have were all medical staff in direct contact with sufferers. The WHO maintains that a major outbreak in Western Europe is ‘unlikely’. But every week in Europe, on average, 500 people die on our […]
A new study by researchers at Loughborough University shows how blind spots in HGVs could be significantly reduced with a modified cab design that takes advantage of proposed new EU rules on lorry dimensions. The Loughborough team’s design would have an 80cm longer cab with a rounded nose, smaller dashboard, expanded glazed areas and a slightly lower driver position, panoramically expanding the range of sight from behind the wheel. The study included analysis of data covering 1,906 UK accidents involving HGVs to ascertain the […]