EC Promotes Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems
January 2, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS
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The European Commission (EC) has increased efforts to raise awareness of the benefits of intelligent vehicle safety systems, especially after a recent study found that although European motorists say they attach high importance to safety in choosing a car, they lack an understanding of and appreciation for the cost of these safety benefits. The EC is concerned that such attitudes will slow down market penetration of intelligent vehicle safety systems.
"Technology can greatly improve road safety and prevent accidents," said Viviane Reding, EC commissioner for information society and media. "Together with industry, we are working hard to develop intelligent safety systems. Member states and stakeholders must ensure that these dramatically important and efficient technologies are quickly taken in use in all markets in Europe. These survey results underline how strongly Europeans feel and why we must all act now."
Road safety is shifting in focus towards accident avoidance. This involves the use of advanced information and communication technology (ICT) to develop intelligent vehicle safety systems that can save lives and reduce the severity of injuries. The rapid deployment and take-up of these systems would benefit all road users. This requires, however, that car buyers and others are informed about these systems and understand clearly their benefits.
As a part of the intelligent car initiative, launched in February 2006 (see IP/06/191), the EC undertook two surveys to learn about drivers' attitudes towards these systems and their knowledge about their use and benefits. A qualitative survey was performed in six countries (Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the U.K.) and a quantitative one with close to 25,000 interviews was performed in the 25 member states of the European Union (EU-25). These allow the EC to understand users' attitudes towards new technologies and their level of knowledge, and to decide on further actions, such as public demonstrations, media events and campaigns.
The surveys showed that, for motorists, safety is highly important when buying a car, but they do not want to pay extra for the safety systems. This could be because they feel that cars should be safe even without them. The perceived high price of buying and maintaining safety systems was also a factor. No major differences between countries or between categories of road users were found.
Besides price, safety and fuel consumption are the two top criteria in choosing a car:
- Over 80% want electronic stability control (ESC) in their next car. ESC is perceived as an extension of the well-known anti-lock braking system (ABS), and drivers are already familiar with its use and its advantages.
- Over 70% want in-vehicle emergency call (eCall) in their next car (see IP/06/1720). Drivers understand that eCall can save lives if a crash occurs. Data privacy for eCall does not seem to be a problem: Over 70% consider eCall to be little, if any, inconvenience to privacy and feel its benefits are more important.
The surveys underlined the importance of user awareness: Many citizens do nota know enough about the potential of new intelligent vehicle safety systems, nor recognise them as something that improves safety. This is why the EC welcomed the recent public-private communication platform "eSafetyAware!" to promote specific technologies through media events and campaigns with large media coverage (see IP/06/1271).
For more information, see:
- the EU web site on eSafety
- the EU web page on eCall
Source: European Commission.