Important for drivers: These systems will be mandatory from 2022


A new regulation will come into force on July 6, 2022. It applies to all new vehicle types. From July 7, 2024, it will also be mandatory for all new vehicles. From this point in time, vehicles in the basic equipment must have a warning system that warns the driver if they are tired. On the one hand, this means that this warning system does not cause any extra costs when buying a car and may be included in the special equipment. On the other hand, the warning system should ensure more safety and prevent accidents. Because microsleep at the wheel is not uncommon.

In a survey conducted by the German Road Safety Council (DVR) in 2016, 26 percent of 1,000 motorists questioned said they had fallen asleep at the wheel at least once. Last year there were 1,448 accidents with injuries or fatalities due to overtired drivers. And anyone who thinks they can recognize microsleep before it occurs is mistaken. Investigations in a driving simulator with EEG and video recording have shown that drivers often do not even notice that their brain is in microsleep status.

From 2022: New warning system against drink-driving in new cars

From 2022, drivers will have to be prepared for two new warning systems for new vehicles.

Photo: Christin Klose / dpa-tmn

In addition to the fatigue warning system, an interface for alcohol-sensitive immobilizers will also be mandatory and will be part of the basic equipment from mid-2022. An alcohol ignition lock or alcohol immobilizer is used to determine breath alcohol. As a motorist, you first operate the ignition. You then have to give a breath sample to a hand-held device. The hand-held device measures the alcohol concentration in the breath, then either releases the ignition or, if the alcohol content in the breath is too high, does not.

The new regulation applies not only to cars, but also to buses, vans and trucks. However, this EU regulation only comes into force for the interface. The actual breath alcohol monitoring device that activates the immobilizer is not part of the regulation. Alcohol abuse, which is responsible for around 25 percent of road deaths in Europe, is unlikely to change much in these statistics. Because hardly anyone is likely to buy an alcohol measuring device for several hundred euros and put it in the car if it is not necessary. Especially since the devices cause follow-up costs because they have to be calibrated again and again.

The original of this post first appeared on Inside Digital.



Source link -61