Vehicle safety
Antonio Avenoso Executive Director, European Transport Safety Council Road collisions, especially those without death or serious injury, rarely make for global news headlines. Except of course when a member of the British royal family is involved. Commentators have been quick to place the blame for last week’s collision involving the Duke of Edinburgh’s SUV and a Kia Carens MPV. The culprits include an elderly driver, speed limits that were too high and glare caused by the sun. An in-depth crash investigation by a professional […]
New EU rules covering road infrastructure safety and minimum vehicle safety standards moved a step closer today, following approval by a key committee of MEPs in the European Parliament. The European Transport Safety Council welcomed the progress and is calling for the EU to reach a final deal on both pieces of legislation as soon as possible. The European Parliament’s Transport committee voted to approve an update to rules governing road infrastructure safety management. The existing requirements ensure governments carry out regular road safety […]
The Volkswagen group sold vehicles in Europe that did not have valid type approval certificates according to an investigation by Der Spiegel, a German newspaper. Meanwhile Which?, a British consumer organisation, has strongly criticised the way the company communicated with new and existing owners about a potentially dangerous seatbelt fault affecting the VW Polo, Seat Ibiza and Seat Arona models. From 2006 to 2018, Volkswagen sold around 6,700 test cars in Europe and the US, a VW spokesman said, confirming German media reports. The […]
Industry and transport ministers from the 28 EU Member States have set out their official responses to three key pieces of road safety legislation. ETSC welcomed the position of the Council of the EU on new vehicle safety measures but is worried that new rules on road infrastructure safety management and revised professional driver working hour regulations will be weakened unless the European Parliament argues successfully for a stronger position in upcoming negotiations. ETSC warmly welcomed the endorsement by EU ministers of industry of a new […]
Government ministers from five EU member states, together with MEPs from the largest political groups in the European Parliament have lent their support to ETSC’s campaign for the EU to back the full range of vehicle safety measures proposed by the European Commission in May. Among the MEPs to pledge their backing are Roza Thun, the conservative (EPP) member responsible for shepherding the proposals through the Parliament’s internal market committee (IMCO) and her counterpart on the transport (TRAN) committee Matthijs van Miltenburg from the […]
The new version of the Ford Focus, one of Europe’s most popular cars, will feature Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) as standard, it has emerged. The system, which Ford launched three years ago on its high–end S-Max and Galaxy models, will now be installed on every Ford Focus, which currently sells for as little as EUR 16,500 in Belgium. A Ford executive has previously told a road safety event in Dublin, organised by ETSC and RSA, that the system was taken as an option on […]
ETSC has warmly welcomed the endorsement today by EU ministers of industry of a new package of mandatory minimum vehicle safety standards. Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council said: “Today EU member states have given strong backing to a game-changing package of new minimum vehicle safety standards. If this legislation is passed, together with the European Parliament, in the form it was proposed, it will prevent 25,000 people from dying over 16 years – a massive step forward for road […]
A coalition of automotive supplier companies, cities and groups campaigning for greater road safety (1) are calling on EU Ministers of Industry to give their full support to a proposed package of new vehicle safety measures at the EU Competitiveness Council meeting on Thursday 29 November. At the meeting in Brussels, industry ministers will outline their initial response, known as a “general approach”, to a package of 16 vehicle safety measures proposed by the European Commission in May. The coalition, representing €600 billion of […]
In the run-up to crucial votes by EU industry ministers and in the European Parliament, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has launched a new social media campaign in support of future EU vehicle safety standards. In May this year the European Commission announced a significant proposal to upgrade mandatory vehicle safety standards for all new cars, vans, lorries and buses sold in the EU. The combination of new standards and technologies could save 25,000 lives in the EU between 2022 and 2037 according […]
One in 10 drivers would be tempted to have a nap while using a so-called ‘Highway Assist’ system, such as Adaptive Cruise Control, according to new research published this month alongside new Euro NCAP tests of cars featuring advanced driver assistance systems. In a separate briefing, also published this month, ETSC has called on the European Commission to set out plans for addressing the risks of driver over-reliance on automated systems and reiterated that there needs to be much more transparency around the approval […]
The London transport authority TfL has published a new Bus Safety Standard, part of a strategy to reach a target of no-one being killed on or by a London bus by 2030. The standard, which details the bus safety requirements all bus operators will need to adopt up to 2024, will also reduce road danger in the shorter term with a range of safety features required from next year. London’s buses carry 6.5 million passengers every day and are a particularly important service for […]
Letter: ACEA’s attempts to weaken the European Commission’s proposals on new vehicle safety measures
A group of safety experts, consumer groups, transport police, environmental campaigners, city authorities, cyclists and road collision victims have written today to members of the European Parliament’s Committees on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Transport (TRAN) to raise concerns over the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA)’s attempts to weaken the European Commission’s proposals on new vehicle safety measures and to ask MEPs to pass the legislation as soon as possible, to maximise its life-saving potential. Download the full letter (pdf) For more […]
Is Automation the Future of Vehicle Safety? ETSC’s 25th Anniversary Debate Tuesday 16 October 2018, 18:30 #ETSC25
On 17 May 2018 the European Commission adopted a strategy paper on automated driving . The paper was published as part of the EC’s third mobility package, which also includes new vehicle safety standards, updated rules on road infrastructure safety management and a strategic action plan on road safety. This short briefing reflects ETSC’s first analysis of the paper with suggestions for areas that need further development. ETSC warmly welcomes, and fully agree with the Commission’s acknowledgement that when it comes to automated mobility, “only […]
Fundación MAPFRE, the General Direction of Traffic and the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) held a seminar “Fitting Safety As Standard” / “Hacia la seguridad de serie en todos los vehículos” in Madrid on 11 September 2018. On the 17 May 2018 the European Commission proposed a new set of mandatory vehicle safety standards for all vehicles sold in the European Union. These standards represent the most direct and effective measures the EU has to further reduce road deaths and injuries. 25,300 people lost their […]
The EU is set to adopt updated UNECE regulations on seatbelts that will require seatbelt reminder systems in all front and rear seats on new cars from September 2019. Existing EU vehicle safety rules agreed in 2009 only require seatbelt reminder systems on the driver’s seat. The updated requirements also include the front and rear passenger seats. In the front seats, the systems will need to be able to detect a passenger sitting and make an audible warning at the start of the journey […]
The German supermarket chain Aldi, has said all new lorries added to its fleet from 2019 will be fitted with turning assistant systems. The announcement came following a meeting organised by the German transport minister Andreas Scheuer with industry figures to discuss the issue of collisions caused by lorry drivers failing to see vulnerable road users in their blind spot when turning. The fitting of vulnerable road user detection and warning systems is one of the measures (see below) proposed by the European Commission in […]
Thatcham Research and the ABI (Association of British Insurers) have called on carmakers and legislators for greater clarity around the capability of vehicles sold with driver assistance and automated driving technologies. The call comes in the wake of growing reports of people crashing whilst over-relying on technology which is not yet designed to drive the car independently. The risks to drivers have been outlined in the new ‘Assisted and Automated Driving Definition and Assessment’ paper, which has identified dangerous grey areas associated with some […]
The third phase of new UN regulations covering the safety of child car seats has been agreed and will come into force next year. The new additions to the R129 standard cover baby and toddler seats held in position by a seatbelt, i.e. not attached to Isofix mounting points found on newer cars. Child seats built to this new standard would be a safer option for parents with older cars without Isofix points. Phase 1 of the R129 standard, which has been in place […]
Lunch debate hosted by Dr. Dieter-Lebrecht Koch MEP Fitting Safety As Standard Wednesday 27 June 2018, 12h15-14h45 European Parliament, Salon Members’ Restaurant (Ground Floor Altiero Spinelli), Brussels The German Association of Technical Inspection Agencies (VdTÜV), Transport & Environment (T&E) and the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) held a lunch debate in the Salon Members’ Restaurant of the European Parliament on 27 June to discuss the European Commission’s proposals published on 17 May for the revision of two critical regulations for road safety: the General Safety (661/2009/EC) and Pedestrian […]