Cars that automatically call for help

Cars that automatically call for help set to become law from 2018: EU rules demand all makers to install emergency 'black boxes'

• By Victoria Wool
• March 19th, 2015

From March 2018 every new car sold in the European Union will legally have to be equipped with eCall technology.

This will consist of a 'black box' that detects a crash and automatically calls the emergency services for help. 

This box is also fitted with a GPS sensor so it can send the car's precise location to the control room.

From March 2018, every new car sold in the EU will legally have to be equipped with eCall technology. This will consist of a 'black box' that detects a crash and automatically calls the emergency services for help. Car manufacturers, including BMW, already include the technology in their latest models Photo by: i3 pictured

The European Parliament's Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee voted in favour of the draft EU rules on Tuesday. 

And the rules are expected to become law after a full European Parliament in April.

The plans were first proposed last May, and in June 2014 the EU passed guidelines that required all members to have the technology ready to handle eCalls set up by October 2017. 

At the time of the original proposals the Government said the gadget will add at least £100 to the cost of vehicles.

HOW DOES ECALL WORK? 

The technology contains a mobile phone-like SIM card designed to transmit the vehicle’s location to emergency services in the event of a crash.

It is fitted inside a 'black box' built into the vehicle. 

An SOS button near the dashboard, linked to a SIM card, allows drivers to call 999 quickly.  

And if airbags are deployed it automatically sends a text message to emergency services with the car’s location - as well as its unique vehicle ID number. 

The technology contains a mobile phone-like SIM card designed to transmit the vehicle’s location to emergency services in the event of a crash.

An SOS button near the dashboard allows drivers to call 112 quickly.

And if airbags are deployed it automatically sends a text message to emergency services with the car’s location - as well as its unique vehicle ID number. 

But officials complained the scheme could be used by police or insurance companies to monitor motorists’ every move.

Motorists will be unable to switch it off and it will be tested in MoT checks. 

Emma Carr, of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘Motorists will not be comfortable forcibly having a black box installed which is capable of recording and transmitting their exact location when they are driving.’

The technology contains a mobile phone-like SIM card designed to transmit the vehicle’s location to emergency services. An SOS button near the dashboard allows drivers to call 112 quickly. But officials complained the scheme could be used by police or insurance companies to monitor motorists’ every move

A separate study by the EU Data Protection Supervisor warns of the ‘potential intrusiveness’ of eCall given that it operates on the same basis as mobile phones and ‘potentially enables the constant collection of the vehicle’s geolocation’. 

It urged ‘stricter safeguards’ against ‘unlawful’ use of personal data.

Brussels insists eCall will save 2,500 lives a year by speeding up emergency services response times.

Some car manufacturers, including BMW and Volvo, already include eCall devices in their latest models.  But voluntary take-up has been low across the industry, which led to the new rules.