All cars must have tracking devices to cut road deaths, says EU

‘All new cars will within three years contain tracking devices that alert the emergency services in the event of an accident.

Under EU laws passed on Tuesday the technology will be compulsory from 2018 and fitted as standard in every model of car and small van.

A serious crash will prompt an automatic call to the nearest emergency centre. Even if nobody in the vehicle is able to speak, the device will still relay the exact location, time, direction of travel, the scale of the impact and whether airbags have been deployed.

Drivers will also be able to push a button inside their car to make a call if they have witnessed an accident and are in unfamiliar surroundings.’

Read more: All cars must have tracking devices to cut road deaths, says EU