Today already present in many cars from various manufacturers, eCall is a pan-European emergency calling system.
In the event of a serious accident that results in the activation of the airbags, this system, whose installation becomes mandatory in all new cars sold in the European Union as of March 31, 2018, automatically triggers an alert call to one of the national emergency centers (112). For this, using the online connection provided by a smartphone that is attached to the vehicle, or a SIM card installed in the system itself.
In this connection, the system not only transmits what happened to the emergency services, but also the location of the vehicle, the number plate, the time of the accident, the number of occupants and even the direction in which the car was going.
If the driver or some of the occupants are aware, the emergency call system can also be triggered manually, by pressing a specific button in the passenger compartment.
eCall as a way to accelerate emergency response
Approved by the European Parliament in April 2015, the eCall system, which should not represent any extra costs for drivers, aims, according to the European Commission, to speed up emergency operations by around 40%, when in urban areas, and by around 50% when out of these. At the same time, the technology should also contribute to reducing the number of fatalities from road accidents by something like 4%, and by about 6%, in the case of serious injuries.As a way of protecting the personal data of drivers, the eCall system installed in cars is prevented from monitoring, recording or recording the journeys carried out daily by the vehicle.
Heavy vehicles should be the next step
Once installed and fully disseminated in light vehicles, the European Commission intends to extend the application of this electronic emergency response system also to heavy vehicles, transporting passengers or cargo.