Newly manufactured vehicles sold in Ireland must come equipped with a range of advanced safety systems from this Sunday, July 7, according to the Road Safety Authority (RSA).
The move comes with the implementation of an EU regulation which aims to significantly reduce deaths and serious injuries on roads by mandating certain Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in new vehicles.
The second General Safety Regulation (GSR2), which applies to cars, vans, buses and trucks, aims to reduce collisions by deploying advanced safety systems to help protect the occupants of the vehicle, pedestrians, cyclists and other road users.
“ADAS uses sensors and other electronic systems to assist drivers in various driving tasks and help prevent collisions,” RSA chief executive, Sam Waide said welcoming the move.
“It has the potential to significantly improve road safety in Ireland,” Waide said.
Advanced safety systems
The regulation covers the introduction of a wide range of technologies, including:
- Drowsiness detection;
- Blind spot information systems;
- Advanced emergency braking;
- Alcohol interlock installation facilitation;
- Intelligent speed assistance.
Intelligent speed assistance is a key feature that alerts drivers when they are speeding.
This technology is expected to help drivers keep within the speed limit by issuing an audible warning or vibrating alert when the driver exceeds the limit or when the speed limit changes, the RSA said.
It operates using a front-facing camera that reads speed limit signs. This data can be combined with GPS mapping in the vehicle’s software, enabling the car to know the current speed limits along its route, according to the RSA.
Advanced emergency braking is a system that monitors the road ahead, alerting the driver if a potential collision is about to occur. The system automatically applies the brakes if the driver fails to brake in an emergency.
An alcohol interlock interface allows the installation of aftermarket breathalysers on newly manufactured vehicles. Where aftermarket devices are fitted, the driver must pass a breath alcohol content test to enable the vehicle to start, the RSA said.
Road safety
Researchers at University of Limerick (UL) and Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre for Software, previously found that the installation of ADAS on all cars in Great Britain could reduce car crashes by 24%.
The research found that Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) is the most impactful technology, reducing three out of the four most frequent accident categories – intersection (by 28%), rear-end (by 27.7%), and pedestrian accidents (by 28.4%).
The research team believes similar results could be achieved in Ireland.
Based on publicly available road safety reports from Great Britain for 2019, the research team estimates that a full deployment of ADAS would reduce accident frequency in Britain by 23.8%, representing an annual decrease of 18,925 accidents.
The RSA, in association with the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), is running a campaign to raise awareness of the changes among consumers and the motor industry.
The campaign is running across press, digital display and social media platforms.