Device on cars to call for help

A DEVICE that automatically calls the emergency services when a car is in an accident could be compulsory in every car by 2015.

Costing about €100, it could save one life every six hours in Europe and reduce the severity of injuries. Every second after an accident is critical in deciding if the victims will survive or how bad their injuries will be.

The Government has been urging the European Commission to make the eCall devices obligatory. Yesterday the commission agreed, saying it hopes every vehicle in the EU will be fitted with it within four years.

The eCall would be linked to the airbags and would automatically call the emergency services once they are triggered. They would give the services the vehicle’s exact location and which way it is facing.

ECall can also be triggered manually, for instance by a person who fears a heart attack is coming on or by a witness when airbags do not inflate.

However, a commission spokesman said it will remain an offence to alert emergency services for anything else, such as looking for directions.

Commissioner Neelie Kroes said that deaths could be reduced by at least 4% — about 2,500 a year in Europe — and severe injuries cut by at least 6% a year.

“This wireless-life line can be vital in saving lives as it will reduce those critical seconds that it takes the victim of an accident to receive medial attention,” she told the European Parliament.

The leading manufacturer of the devices has agreed to waive royalties to ensure that sufficient units are available for every vehicle, said Jonathan Todd, a spokesman for the commissioner.

Fears that the devices could be used by state agencies and others to track motorists’ whereabouts were unfounded, he said, since eCall would not send out a signal unless activated.