MEPs vote for safer and greener cars
Posted, March 11, 2009 @ 10:00
New technical requirements will be introduced
Malcolm Harbour MEP, Conservative internal market spokesman in the European Parliament, has welcomed new rules for safety and environmental protection on all new cars, adopted today by the European Parliament.
The regulation sets out new mandatory safety requirements for new vehicles such as electronic stability control systems and advanced emergency braking systems. Lorries would also have to be fitted with lane departure warning systems.
The proposals set more stringent standards for tyres, which will cut down on CO2 emissions and noise. Poorly inflated tyres are both dangerous and increase emissions, so the regulation will also make tyre pressure monitoring systems mandatory in new cars.
Car safety and environmental standards are currently set out in around 50 existing European directives that are duplicated by global standards set by the UN in Geneva. This proposal merges them together, giving greater clarity to manufacturers. The new regulation will apply from November 2011 but a number of transition periods have been incorporated, in some cases until 2018, to enable the industry to adapt to the new rules.
Mr Harbour said:
"This regulation ends the current patchwork quilt of rules and regulations car makers, and helps Europe's car makers become globally competitive. Manufacturers will have one clear set of rules when developing new vehicles, which will apply in many global markets.
"Technological developments such as airbags have made our cars far safer in the event of a collision. Now we must move technology on a generation, to say that all cars must have active safety features such as emergency braking systems that will avoid accidents altogether. The fall in road death figures has slowed down. They still remain unacceptably high. This proposal will contribute to casualty reductions.
"Far too many accidents and extra emissions are being caused by underinflated tyres. In the long-run, having tyre pressure monitors will save us all money on our fuel bills and cut unnecessary emissions.
"We want the industry to have time to develop these safety technologies so that they add no extra costs to consumers or to manufacturers. The consumers will have safer, greener cars whilst manufacturers will have a clearer set of rules."