Europe News: Continental Automotive Systems signs eCall MOU

Sharon

Sharon Gill

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13th March 2007

Continental’s Automotive Systems division has renewed its commitment to the European Commission’s eCall initiative by signing the eCall Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, president of Continental Automotive Systems & member of Continental AG’s executive board, stated: “Continental believes that eCall is a critical European safety initiative. We are committed to working with ERTICO, the eSafety Aware Initiative and key stakeholders to help harmonise system requirements and develop an eCall solution that best serves the needs of the European market.”

The EC’s eCall initiative is a pan-European proposal that encourages member states, public safety access points (PSAPs), automobile manufacturers, mobile network operators, service providers and automotive suppliers to collaborate to develop an in-vehicle automatic crash notification system that will provide a ‘wireless life-line’ to emergency assistance in the critical seconds after a crash occurs.

According to a Eurobarometer study on the citizen's perception of road safety and intelligent vehicle safety systems, European consumers consider eCall to be one of the most wanted eSafety systems in the car, with more than 62% of the respondents saying that they would like to have it in their next car.

Currently, the (E112) e-Call initiative sets forth the mandate that all vehicles introduced in the pan-European region after September 2010 will have the ability to transmit important accident data to authorities to help facilitate an emergency response.

However, efforts to bring eCall to fruition have stalled, prompting the EC to enact a two-tier approach that includes focusing on enhancing commitment of the member states by mid-2007 and engaging industry by end-2007 to help speed deployment.

Continental Automotive Systems' telematics and hands-free systems are included in more than twelve million cars worldwide, and already help to route emergency assistance to the scene of accidents in Europe and North America. Continental is committed to the roll-out of eCall across Europe.