London (BBC): An emergency call system dubbed eCall will be installed in all new cars from March 2018 under an agreement reached at the European Parliament. The system will send an automated call to the emergency services in the event of an accident. Research suggests that the mandatory use of the system could halve response times, especially in rural areas. But one expert questioned why it was going to take so long to be implemented.
The proposal was originally made in 2012 but was delayed for a variety of reasons, including privacy concerns. Critics were unsure of the need for a government-mandated in-car system that would track a vehicle’s location.