Press Release: Commission proposes fitting of Brake Assist Systems in new cars to reduce pedestrian fatalities

To reduce the number of fatal accidents on European roads, the European Commission has proposed that passenger cars need to be fitted with Brake Assist Systems (BAS) as early as 2009. If the complete European car fleet is fitted with BAS, as many as 1,100 pedestrian lives may be saved every year. As many as 8,000 vulnerable road users, pedestrians and cyclists, are killed every year in the EU. The use of BAS can considerably reduce the stopping distance of a vehicle in an emergency situation, with the effect that a collision with a pedestrian could be avoided altogether or would occur at least at a far lower speed. The proposal is part of a larger package of measures for Pedestrian Protection.