New European vehicle safety rules will save 25,000 lives, says TRL

New European vehicle safety regulations which will mandate installation of driver assistance systems will save 25,000 lives, says TRL.

The regulations, developed by TRL, have been approved by the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, marking a historic moment along the regulatory journey for vehicle automation.

The measures include new crash testing requirements, mandatory installation of driver assistance systems including Automated Emergency Braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection, overridable Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) and Lane Keep Assistance (LKA), as well as a new direct vision standard for lorries and buses to enable drivers to have a better view of other road users around their vehicle.

TRL has been working on the European Commission’s behalf since 2014 to assess the feasibility of these new regulatory safety measures, bringing together the car manufacturing industry, NGOs, governments and safety organisations.

The intention was to evaluate all measures proposed in a truly authentic and transparent approach to reach a consensus on how the individual measures will work to protect road users and also how they will interact as a system.

These new vehicle safety standards are the first of their kind, anywhere in the world, placing the EU at the head of the regulatory safety race for a connected and automated vehicle (CAV) future while delivering outstanding safety benefits to European society.

Richard Cuerden, head of TRL’s Academy, said: “These innovative new vehicle safety standards are the first of their kind, anywhere in the world, placing the EU at the head of the regulatory safety race for a connected and automated vehicle (CAV) future while delivering outstanding safety benefits to European society.

“I’m enormously proud of the work completed by TRL in not only developing these safety standards and undertaking the Impact Assessment, but also in the phenomenal achievement of bringing this to the European Commission to now take to an EU Parliamentary vote.

“We are pushing very hard for relevant and practicable standards to be introduced for our vehicles, not only in the UK but across Europe.

“This new safety legislation is the first of its kind and lays the ground work for what is going to come next as vehicles transition from human to automated systems.

“As an organisation, TRL is helping to write the rulebook for this journey. I would like to thank the European Commission, Róża Thun (MEP) and IMCO, and all of the stakeholders involved in bringing these standards to this advanced position.”

TRL has subsequently been awarded a contract from the European Commission to support the development of the detailed technical rules for the new systems, including the world’s first automated regulations for cars.