Safety norms are seeing dramatic changes globally and government agencies, as well as automakers, are increasingly adding new features and safety systems to make cars safer for the driver as well as the pedestrian. In a new set of safety features that will be mandatory for cars sold in Europe, the European Commission has announced that it has proposed all new cars to carry 11 new advanced safety features as standard from 2021. The details were announced as part of European Commission's mobility package and cover several aspects of road safety. It is also the first update of vehicles' minimum EU safety standards since 2009. Of the 11 new safety systems, some of it is already available as optional.
The proposal includes a host of new features that will be added to vehicles as standard including autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane keeping assist, distraction recognition technology, alcohol interlock installation facilitation, drowsiness and attention detection and more.
The list also includes over-rideable speed assistance systems, accident data recorder, emergency stop signal, intelligent speed assist and reverse camera or parking sensors. Lastly, all new cars sold from 2021 will have to also comply with a full-width frontal occupant protection crash test with improved seatbelts. Head impact zone enlargement for pedestrians and cyclists, plus safety glass; and pole side-impact occupant protection.
The new legislation aims at reducing the number of road accidents across Europe in the coming years, down to zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2050. Presently, features like AEB and lane-keeping assist are required by the Euro NCAP for a car to receive a full five-star safety rating. However, the safety tech is not mandatory on all vehicles at present.
Some of these features though have met with criticism including the intelligent speed assistance, which can control the speed of the vehicle by adhering to the road speed limits wherever possible. However, concerns have been voiced about total speed governance over the car's speed. There's also the legal implications in the event of a crash if the feature is switched off temporarily. There's also alcohol interlock installation facilitation that will stop the driver from using the vehicle if the alcohol is detected in their system.
With some of these features already on offer on vehicles, the new safety tech is not expected to add manufacturing costs towards vehicle production. That said, the new safety features are expected to save lives of about 10,500 people while preventing about 60,000 serious injuries by 2030.
