Vehicle safety
By Graziella Jost This summer, new models of car, van, bus and lorry that come on to the EU market must be fitted, as standard, with a range of new safety technologies. But Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), one of the most promising of these new features in terms of road safety, could fail to bring the hoped-for benefits. What happened? ISA, as it was originally envisaged, is a fantastic life-saving […]
The European Commission published a draft of its upcoming implementing act setting out the technical requirements and test procedures for the type approval of certain vehicles with an automated driving system (ADS). The rules would apply to the following use cases: ‘Self-driving shuttles’, which are designed to carry passengers or goods on a predefined area in an urban or suburban environment; ‘Hub-to-Hub’ transport, which covers fully automated vehicles or dual […]
Two new models from Mercedes-Benz have gone on sale in Germany with an automated system capable of taking complete control of the vehicle away from the driver under certain circumstances. ETSC says more oversight is needed of such systems, together with a commitment to an in-depth crash investigation for every collision involving a vehicle with self-driving features. ETSC has repeatedly called for the setting up of an EU road collision […]
Women are almost twice as likely as men to be trapped in a vehicle after a traffic collision, according to a new study of UK injury data. The authors say the research, which also looked at the differences in injury patterns by sex, may help vehicle manufacturers, emergency services personnel and road-safety organisations to tailor responses with the aim of more equitable outcomes by targeting equal performance of safety measures […]
The ETSC, together with founder-member the Dutch Safety Board, have written to the European Commission raising a number of concerns about the regulation of assisted driving systems. The Dutch Safety Board has investigated a number of collisions involving driver assistance systems in the past, and published a groundbreaking report on the issue in 2019. ETSC and the Dutch Safety Board have already raised numerous concerns about these driver assistance systems […]
By David Ward, Executive President of the Towards Zero Foundation, an ETSC member Brexit is not just damaging the British economy; it can now seriously damage your health too. From July 6th proven life-saving technologies such as autonomous emergency braking and intelligent speed assistance will be a mandatory fitment for new model passenger cars and commercial vehicles across the EU. The General Safety Regulation (GSR) will be phased in over […]
ADAC, a German motoring organisation, has said it cannot recommend 18 out of 19 top selling vans due to a lack of safety features on their entry-level models. A recent series of tests by Euro NCAP was more positive, but it tested vehicles with optional safety equipment fitted. ADAC says most vans are sold in their cheapest, stripped down form – so decided to investigate these models. According to the […]
ETSC’s member PACTS has set out its recommendations for private e-scooter use in case of legalisation by the UK government, following a nine-month research project involving hospitals, police, NGOs and industry representatives. Rented e-scooters are currently legal in many UK cities, but private use is prohibited despite up to a million of the vehicles having been imported to the UK in recent years. E-scooters are legal to buy – but […]
Electronic data recorders, which will be mandatory in new models of car from this summer, will be of little use to safety experts due to a ban on the retrieval of data containing location, date and time information from the devices, according to ETSC. Last month, the European Commission published the final technical specifications for the devices, which are one of a number of mandatory new technologies agreed as part […]
Automated emergency braking systems on HGVs and buses will have to work better in the future thanks to tougher new standards agreed at the UNECE in Geneva which will apply in the EU from 2025 on new types of vehicle. The revision was prompted by collision investigations in Germany involving new lorries which found that the AEB system had been switched off by the driver. Lorry drivers apparently regularly switch […]
ETSC is repeating its call for the setting up of an EU road collision investigation authority to conduct forensic analysis of crashes involving automated vehicles on EU roads. The call follows the announcement yesterday by Mercedes-Benz of the German launch of ‘Drive Pilot’, a system that allows for hands-off automated driving in traffic at speeds up to 60 km/h on German motorways. This is the first approval of a Level […]
The consumer safety rating organisation Euro NCAP has heavily criticised Renault, once a leader on vehicle safety, for downgrading safety on its Zoe electric model and the release of the Dacia Spring which has crash test performance described as “downright problematic, with a high risk of life-threatening injuries”. The car received just one star for its “mediocre crash performance”. In general, electric and hybrid models have fared well in recent […]
The world’s first regulatory standard for Intelligent Speed Assistance technology has been published in the official journal of the European Union, the final legal step before mandatory fitment in new types of vehicle from next July. ETSC is calling on vehicle manufacturers to go beyond the minimum requirements of the legislation to maximise the huge potential safety benefits of the technology. By next year, the European Union will have, by […]
HERE Technologies, a digital mapping provider, has launched an “ISA Map” specifically designed to help vehicle manufacturers deliver accurate Intelligent Speed Assistance systems, required on new models sold in the EU from next year. ISA can use traffic sign recognition and / or digital speed limit maps linked to a vehicle’s GPS location to help the driver stick to the local speed limit. HERE says for an optimal experience a […]
The Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI), a Dutch government institution, says it is the first research organisation to successfully read and publish the encoded driving data stored in Tesla vehicles, beyond what is available via the Event Data Recorder (EDR). The results, which have already been presented at a conference, could help independent researchers around the world better understand the role driver assistance systems such as Tesla “Autopilot” may or may not […]
ETSC, together with six other organisations, has written to EU member states regarding draft direct vision standards for lorries and buses, urging caution on exemptions for certain types of vehicle.
A study of automated emergency braking systems (AEBS) on passenger cars by ETSC’s Austrian and Swiss members KFV and BFU, shows that significant improvements need to be made to performance in rain, fog, and poor light conditions. The organisations carried out more than 200 tests to better reflect the range of real world conditions such as rainy weather, fog and poor light conditions, and by varying the test dummies and […]
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has begun a wide-ranging investigation of the safety of driver assistance systems prompted by several collisions involving cars that had driver assistance systems activated and emergency service vehicles. NHTSA initially sent a letter to Tesla last month requiring the company to provide extensive data on usage and operation of its so-called Autopilot system by 22 October. The agency has since widened the scope […]
ETSC has welcomed endorsement by EU Member States of technical standards for Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), paving the way for the technology to be installed on all new models of vehicle sold in the European Union from next year. ETSC is calling on vehicle manufacturers to go beyond the minimum requirements of the legislation to maximise the huge potential safety benefits of the technology. By next year, the European Union […]
ETSC was sorry to hear of the passing of Max Mosley earlier this month. Mr Mosley was instrumental in getting Euro NCAP, the consumer vehicle safety testing organisation, off the ground in the late nineties and acted as its first President from 1997 until 2004. Euro NCAP Secretary General Michiel van Ratingen said “With his enormous influence, commanding personality and intellect, Max knew how to turn advocacy into action. He […]