1st December 2010
Comments from the European Motorcycle Industry (ACEM) on the deployment of in-vehicle emergency call (E-call) in Europe
Safety is a major priority for the Powered Two-Wheeler industry. ACEM and its members dedicate energy and resources to acquiring and analysing data regarding road safety and Powered Two Wheelers in order to identify and prioritize areas for improvements and implementation of applications.
This process follows an integrated approach looking at human, vehicle and infrastructure related factors, seeking to involve policymakers and other relevant stakeholders at European, National and local level.
The developments for eCall are at very early stage in particular those related to PTWs and PTW manufacturers have adopted an individual approach towards finding the best solutions to a multitude of open and complex questions.
At the same time some manufacturers have been very actively involved in co-funded projects covering this domain at European level (for example Safe rider project, SIM project, etc).
The knowledge gained through the individual manufacturer research and EU projects has enabled the motorcycle industry to identify a wide range of potential solutions, which need to be further explored through research, validation tests, and standardisation activities to understand the minimum system configuration(s) and estimate their costs.
Following a first analysis, whilst it is impossible at this stage to quantify them precisely, the costs associated with a legislative approach to eCall would be disproportionately high for the vast majority of PTW models.
Furthermore, the overall benefit of eCall (fatalities and severe injuries) is between one fourth and half smaller for PTW than for cars, due to the fact that PTW accidents predominantly occur in situations where eCall is of less benefit (urban daytime).
Finally, there is still no clear visibility on fundamental prerequisites such as when eCall infrastructure would be operational across the EU.
For these reasons ACEM does not support a legislative approach to eCall on PTWs and considers today that standardization activities are a prerequisite at this stage.
