A law introduced by the EU will see all new cars fitted with ‘black-box’ tracking technology which makes it possible for emergency services to be contacted automatically in the event of an accident.
This step to increase safety is being taken because it means that even if the driver is incapable of moving or speaking, they will be able to get assistance at their exact location.
Emergency Measures
The law will only come into effect from 2018, at which point every new vehicle sold in the UK and throughout the EU will legally be required to feature the tracking tech. So people trying to find new Honda offers at Honda London or those picking up a fresh vehicle on the Continent will benefit from the same life-saving service.
The additional benefits of the system will include the option for drivers to place an emergency call if they are at the scene of an accident in which they are not involved. Because the box will record things such as the location, time and even the direction in which the vehicle is travelling, all of the data will be useful to ambulance crews, fire crews and police responders.
Pros and Cons
Various trials of this scheme have shown that the amount of time it takes emergency service representatives to get to the scene of an accident can be cut by almost two-thirds where it is introduced. And advocates argue that each year around 2500 lives could be saved as a direct result of the change to the law.
Of course, there are concerns about how this in-depth data being harvested by mandatory trackers will be used, particularly in relation to the privacy that will be afforded drivers. EU figures have also shown that new cars will be at least £72 more expensive as a result of the added costs associated with fitting the tech, but presumably few people will argue with the idea that there will be fewer deaths on the road once new cars must all come with this piece of safety equipment on board as a standard feature.
