The European Commission is set to unveil proposals today to make anti-skid electronic stability control systems mandatory on all vehicles in the European Union from 2012. The EU monitoring website EurActiv says it has seen the Commission proposal, which also contains plans to make Emergency Braking Assistance and Lane Departure Warning Systems mandatory on heavy vehicles from 29 October 2013.
The proposal aims to simplify rules about vehicle safety and to repeal more than 50 directives and amendments.
The safety group the FIA Foundation welcomed the scheme. “We have fallen behind the US on use of electronic stability control, which is the most important car safety device since the seatbelt,” it said. It claims that without regulation only 77 per cent of European cars would have ESC fitted by 2012.