Press Release: Improving the safety and environmental performance of vehicles

The European Commission proposed that all new cars from 2012 will have Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems, to drastically improve vehicle safety. Furthermore lorries and other heavy vehicles should be fitted with Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS) and Lane Departure Warning (LDW) Systems as of 2013. Last year the Commission already proposed the obligatory fitting of passenger cars with Brake Assist Systems (BAS) to protect pedestrians. These measures will reduce fatal casualties in traffic by an estimated 5000 a year. At the same time the Commission proposed the obligatory introduction in 2012 of low rolling resistance tyres, which considerably save on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and might also reduce noise, while maintaining high level safety. Low rolling resistance tyres will reduce up to 7 gram of CO2 per km, therefore contributing strongly to the CO2 reduction strategy for cars, adopted in February 2007. Fuel consumption and CO2 emissions will further be reduced by the proposed introduction of Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems. The Commission proposal will also sweep away more than 150 existing Directives and replace them with one single Regulation, which is directly applicable in the EU and refers to harmonised UN standards.