New vehicle safety standards approved by European Parliament

The European Parliament has given the green light to new minimum vehicle safety requirements that will come become mandatory on new cars and other vehicles across the European Union from 2022.

According to the final deal on the legislation, new cars, vans, lorries and buses sold in Europe will be fitted as standard with a range of new vehicle safety features such as Automated Emergency Braking (AEB), which can detect pedestrians and cyclists, as well as over-ridable Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA).

The legislation also tackles drink driving, making it easier to retrofit an alcohol interlock device – a technological solution for tackling repeat drink driving in use in a number of EU Member States.

New vehicles will also be fitted with Electronic Data Recorders, but only data from a few seconds before, during and after a collision will be recorded, in order for analysis to take place that could help prevent future collisions.

ISA uses GPS data and traffic sign recognition to locate the vehicle and the current road speed limit to prevent the driver from speeding. However, it can be overridden by accelerating hard, for overtaking manoeuvres.

New lorries will also be required to have improved levels of ‘direct vision’, based on Transport for London’s Direct Vision Standard, to give drivers a greater chance of seeing vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists around the vehicle.

The UK is expected to follow the same rules as the EU, irrespective of the outcome of ongoing Brexit negotiations.

However, the negotiated deal is provisional and still subject to formal votes in the European Parliament and by EU Member States. Due to European Parliamentary elections in May, this process could still take several more months.

Commenting on the provisional deal, Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), said: “There have only been a handful of moments in the last 50 years which could be described as big leaps forward for road safety in Europe.

“The mandatory introduction of the seat belt was one, and the first EU minimum crash safety standards, agreed in 1998 was another. If this agreement is given the formal green light in September, it will represent another of those moments, preventing 25,000 deaths within 15 years of coming into force.”

He continued: “We would like to pay tribute to the MEPs and representatives of the Commission and Member States that have worked tirelessly to get a deal done before the big changeover at the European Parliament and European Commission this summer. 

“In particular the Romanian EU presidency, European Commissioners Elżbieta Bieńkowska and Violeta Bulc, and the Polish MEP Róża Thun deserve recognition for their commitment to seeing this legislation through.

Bieńkowska, responsible for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs at the EC, also believes that the new vehicle safety legislation will have the same kind of impact as when seat belts were first introduced.

She said: “Many of the new features already exist, in particular in high-end vehicles. Now we raise the safety level across the board, and pave the way for connected and automated mobility of the future.”

As part of the process, researchers from TRL – the UK-based Transport Research Laboratory – conducted a cost-benefit evaluation of the next generation of vehicle safety standards.

Richard Cuerden, head of TRL’s Academy, said: “The advanced safety measures for new vehicles will provide state of the art protection to all road users.

“Intelligent Speed Assistance and Drowsiness and Distraction Recognition will support drivers in their ongoing tasks. Autonomous Emergency Braking and Emergency Lane Keeping will intervene in the most critical situations to avoid a crash, and improved crash tests will ensure that injuries of occupants as well as pedestrians and cyclists are minimised in the remaining collisions.”

​Matthew Avery, director of insurance research at Thatcham Research in the UK, said greater adherence to speed limits would avert many accidents and mitigate the effects of those that do occur. He believed ISA would help to keep drivers safe and legal.

"Euro NCAP has tested manual speed limiters since 2009 and has long promoted their fitment to new cars," Avery said.

"Many new cars have ISA as standard, such as the Ford Focus and Nissan Leaf. In 2018, manually-set ISA systems became a requirement as part of the five-star Euro NCAP rating for safety," he said.

If you require any further information or advice on the above, please email info@fleetlogistics.com.