Member State authorities commit to eSafety principles
The representatives of 18 EU Member States have endorsed the conclusions of a recent high-level eSafety Forum meeting, committing themselves to speeding up the introduction of intelligent vehicle safety systems. The forum was held in Brussels on 27 September, and focused on three priority areas within eSafety: the in-vehicle emergency call (eCall), real-time traffic and travel information (RTTI), and human machine interaction (HMI). Participants discussed the best way forward for these technology areas on the basis of recommendations proposed by three working groups. In their general conclusions, Member States expressed a common belief that the eSafety initiative is crucially important for improving road safety in Europe, and committed to further increasing their efforts in this area. They propose enhancing their various national eSafety action plans with clear goals and milestones in order to support their implementation. With regard to the in-vehicle emergency call, Member States support the proposed general architecture for the implementation of eCall, and asked the Commission to both continue with its analysis of the socio-economic benefits, and to produce reliable cost figures. Representatives from ten Member States gave their support to a memorandum of understanding on eCall, saying they would follow Finland's example and sign it on completion of their internal processes. In order to ensure that the necessary infrastructure to begin a pan-European eCall service is in place by 2006, Member States are advised to set up national platforms for the implementation of eCall while also investigating ways to accelerate the take up of eCall services by users. In the context of traffic and travel information, all Member States supported the general goal of the working group to ensure that 80 per cent of journeys are covered by RTTI services, but stressed that it is an ambitious target. National representatives also endorsed the working group's desire to identify more advanced future services based on new technologies. For their part, European governments will put national strategies for the implementation of RTTI services in place before 2006 while taking steps to ensure roaming and interoperability. These strategies will then be used to reach agreement between public and private service providers on the extent of free services and the conditions of commercial ones. Member States also pledged to collect sufficiently detailed data in order to further evaluate and monitor the safety impact of in-vehicle information and communication systems, and to take necessary action to prevent the use or misuse of nomadic devices and visual entertainment systems by drivers while driving. The Commission agreed to produce a second communication on eSafety covering the progress made and proposing future actions.