General News: The intelligent car is on its way

Date: 24 June 2008

The European Commission Intelligent Car report “Towards Europe-wide, safer, cleaner and efficient mobility” has been adopted by the European Parliament in its Strasbourg Plenary session on 19 June. A large majority of MEPs voted in favour of the report. The eSafety forum, a multi-stakeholder platform whose mission is to promote the development, deployment and use of Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems, welcomes this important political milestone.

The eSafety forum took this opportunity to raise awareness, understanding and support among European decision makers of the role that intelligent vehicle safety systems can play in making Europe’s roads safer, cleaner and more efficient. A cocktail reception attracted around 90 interested politicians and other stakeholders, who listened to speeches from European decision makers and eSafety stakeholder’s representatives.

The key eSafety issues brought forward in the Commission’s Intelligent Car Report are the deployment of the pan-European emergency call system eCall by 2010 and an accelerated introduction of Electronic Stability Control (ESC), in order to reach 100% availability of ESC by 2012. The report also urges stakeholders to work towards improving awareness and affordability of intelligent vehicle systems, and to improve safety of nomadic devices. On the environmental side, the report calls for the development of a methodology for measuring the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on reducing CO2 emissions.

Intelligent Car rapporteur Mrs Zita Gurmai MEP presented the progresses made on the report and the next steps forward. She stated: “Our most important task and responsibility is saving lives and to set out a strategy for safer, cleaner and more efficient mobility strategy in the EU.” Mrs Gurmai went on to highlight the benefits of eSafety systems: “The intelligent car could save up to 6500 lives every year in Europe.”

Mr Hermann Meyer, the CEO of ERTICO-ITS Europe, the multi-sector partnership pursuing the development and deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), stressed the importance to move from research to deployment of eSafety systems: “there is a need for an EU legislative framework in which creativity to develop Intelligent Transport Systems can thrive and deployment is fast and effective”. He underlined that other modes of transport could also benefit from ICT:  “Intelligent Transport Systems can achieve cooperative, co-modal mobility, saving lives and protecting the environment”.

Other Members of the European Parliament, Mr Malcolm Harbour, Member of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee and Mr Brian Simpson, Member of the Transport and Tourism Committee, congratulated the industry for the steps taken towards eSafety and highlighted the fact that it will take some time to see the fruits of all these efforts. “But these steps are worthwhile”, Mr Simpson said, “especially if technology can help us reducing CO2 emissions”.

The European Commission, Initiator of the intelligent car report, was also represented by Mr. André Vits, Head of the ICT for Transport Unit within the Directorate- General for the Information Society and the Media.

For more information please contact the eSafety Support Office at Tel. +32 (0)2 400 07 27 or e-mail info@esafetysupport.org.

The report “Towards Europe-wide, safer, cleaner and efficient mobility” is available for download here:

IntelligentCarReport.pdf (139 KB)

Zita Gurmai MEP addresses the

audience at the eSafety cocktail

reception in the European Parliament