The European Parliament has moved closer to mandating the installation of an emergency call system in all new cars and smaller commercial vehicles.

Earlier this week MEPs voted to require all new car models to have its eCall system installed from 31st March 2018. They’d originally hoped to mandate eCall from 2015.

Mark Bridge writes:

The telecommunications industry was making plenty of headlines last week – but much of it wasn’t particularly upbeat.

The debate about privacy and security continued in the wake of allegations about US agents intercepting internet traffic. Meanwhile, Nokia prepared to make its last Symbian smartphones and Tradedoubler warned that mobile devices were having a negative effect on high-street consumer loyalty.

The European Commission has adopted two proposals that would ensure cars could automatically call the emergency services after a serious accident.

Its ‘eCall’ system automatically calls the 112 emergency number via a mobile connection and passes the vehicle’s location to the emergency services, potentially saving up to 2,500 lives a year and cutting response times by up to 50%.

We listen to the European Commission's eCall announcement by Neelie Kroes. It marks the start of the EC's planned introduction of in-car emergency call technology by 2015.

The European Commission has adopted a recommendation urging its member states to ensure their mobile networks are ready for eCall devices.

It wants all new cars produced from 2015 to contain an eCall device that’ll automatically call the 112 pan-European emergency number if there’s a serious accident. The in-car eCall device would pass the vehicle's location to the emergency services but wouldn’t track the user’s location until activated.