New cars to be fitted with anti-tailgate technology after EU ruling

Anti-tailgate technology will be installed in the majority of cars from next month after an EU ruling, says the AA.

The safety technology – which automatically slows down or stops a vehicle if its driver fails to respond to the threat of a collision – will become compulsory by law for all new cars across mainland Europe and Northern Ireland from July 6.

The British Government has yet to decide whether to require by law what is officially known as automatic emergency braking (AEB) despite research showing that it could prevent 12,300 casualties and 110 deaths on UK roads.

But Edmund King, president of the AA, said manufacturers would press ahead irrespective of the Government decision as it made no economic sense to exclude the UK.

Only 12 to 15 per cent of cars on the road are currently fitted with the technology, which uses radar and cameras to detect hazards and acts if a driver does not respond to an alarm.

But Mr King said: “Most cars are global so if it is required in the bulk of Europe, it is highly unlikely they would make a low-grade version for the UK.

“In the past, we know lower grade cars were made for the Australian and African markets. However, the UK market is so close to the European market, my understanding is that the vast majority of new model cars will have it.”

Mr King said that although there had been cases of HGV drivers switching off their emergency braking systems because they liked to tailgate other drivers, there was a consensus for the technology among manufacturers and safety campaigners.

‘Not advantageous’ for UK to ignore

A spokesman for the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said: “With the heavily integrated nature of the UK and European automotive sectors, regulatory divergence is not advantageous for either party.”

The rule change has become known as Dev’s law after a campaign by Meera Naran, whose eight-year-old son Dev was killed when a lorry crashed into his grandfather’s car. Dev was on his way to visit his older brother, who was critically ill in hospital, when the car was hit on the M6 near Birmingham.

Ms Naran, a senior lecturer in clinical pharmacy at De Montfort University, played a significant role in persuading Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, to pause the introduction of all-lane-running “smart” motorways and helped to secure the funding of £900 million of safety measures for the controversial schemes.

“No one wakes up in the morning intending to harm someone else, and Dev’s Law is a way in which we can keep ourselves and others safe on our roads and prevent more families going through such painful losses,” she said.

Richard Billyeald, chief technical officer at Thatcham Research, the motor industry’s research centre, said automatic braking would also be required in the UK for car manufacturers to secure top safety ratings under a Europe wide assessment, Euro NCAP, to which the UK is signed up.

“Things like Euro NCAP and our own insurance group ratings will make them fit this technology anyway because of the benefits it brings and car-makers don’t want to be seen as unsafe,” he said.

There has been “nanny state” criticisms against some of the other proposed EU safety measures such as speed limiters although the rules have been eased to allow drivers to override the warnings that they are going too fast.

David Davies, executive director of the parliamentary advisory council for transport safety (PACTs), said the Government should still legislate or risk piecemeal introduction of the measures which could save hundreds of lives.

“The cheaper models might not be fitted with the systems or you could get mark-up prices, as they say: ‘This is a car with the technology, or this is a cheaper one without it.’ The UK’s own Transport Research Laboratory said it could be the biggest safety step forward since seatbelts,” he said.