Europe to force car makers to fit life-saving tech

Car makers could be forced to introduce new mandatory safety equipment on all cars sold in Europe to slash road deaths to fewer than 15,000 by 2020.

Currently, the death rate within Europe in 2015 was more than 26,000 having decreased from 35,360 in 2009 and 76,650 in 1990.

The decline, says the European Commission, is due to the introduction of mandatory safety features like airbags and the introduction of ABS.

Now the Commission, that's responsible for proposing new laws in Europe, believe it's time to shift the emphasis from reducing the consequences of a crash to avoiding an accident altogether.

That's why the European Commission has created a "wish list" of all the safety equipment it hopes car manufacturers will make standard on its vehicles. If it doesn't, it will make them mandatory to force them to comply.

Top of the list for new tech to avoid an accident is autonomous emergency braking that automatically slams on the brakes if the car thinks you haven't spotted a car in front braking hard.

The Commission also wants lane departure warning to become standard on all cars sold within the Eurozone.

Also proposed by the Commission to make cars safer is emergency hazard warning lights - that flash rapidly under heavy braking.

Standard driver drowsiness and distracted driving detection is on the list of safety kit that the Commission wants car-makers to introduce on even its cheapest models within the next five years.

As well as the improved safety measures being considered, the European Commission is also being lobbied by safety groups to consider outlawing high cab trucks over concerns that a lack of vision contributes to an unacceptable number of deaths on roads in cities like London.

Alcohol interlocks that require a breath test before you can drive your vehicle plus new crash tests to improve pedestrian survival rates with trucks and cars are other measures that safety experts want the Commission to introduce.

The next update of the EU vehicle safety rules is expected next year. It's then the European Commission could make all its proposals mandatory. If features like autonomous emergency braking are made law it could have far-reaching effects on the cars we buy here in Australia.

Greater economies of scale could see the equipment standard on all the cars we buy, although the cost of all the new safety kit is likely to be passed on to consumers.