Car safety has come a long way since the use of seat belts started to become mandatory in the 1970s. New technologies have the potential to save thousands more lives on the road today. Legislation is also evolving so that these emerging technologies are prioritized in vehicle design to make our roads even safer.
Human error plays a significant role in the majority of traffic accidents, with some research reports citing figures as high as 95%. Two of the most significant risk factors are speeding and driving while distracted. Recent research revealed that one in three European drivers use a handheld phone while driving, despite this behavior making the risk of a crash 2.5 times more likely (and also being illegal in most countries).
Tackling these issues to create safer roads for all is central to “Vision Zero”, the EU’s long-term goal to move close to zero fatalities on the road by 2050. The fact that people sometimes make mistakes won’t change. Technological advancements in vehicles themselves, and how they are connected to the external environment, can reduce the potential of mistakes leading to fatalities or serious injuries. 
Enter the EU Vehicle General Safety Regulations (GSR). Building on existing mandatory safety measures, the second iteration of the GSR is firmly focused on embedding advanced driver assistant systems into vehicles to better protect passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists. Estimates suggesting the regulations will save more than 25,000 lives and avoid at least 140,000 serious injuries by 2038.
Taking an active approach to road safety
The updated GSR raises the minimum safety standards for vehicles in the EU. While it won’t apply to any vehicles built before July 6, 2022, or existing models built up to July 7, 2024, it will require new vehicle models, and then all new vehicles, to include more active safety features in Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS).
While vehicles are already equipped to protect occupants in the event of an accident through passive safety features such as airbags, the revised legislation moves towards crash avoidance. Essentially, technological advances are allowing regulations to focus on preventing accidents from happening in the first place, not just mitigating damage when they do occur.
Phasing in advanced safety measures
As of July 2022, ‘phase one’ mandated additional safety features in new vehicle models, including:
- Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB): incorporating cameras, radar and lidar sensors to automatically detect potential collisions with other vehicles and activate braking.
- Alcohol Interlock Installation Facilitation: a standardized interface for an alcohol interlock (or breathalyzer) – a device that requires the driver to take a breath test before starting the vehicle and prevents it from starting if they test positive.
- Driver Drowsiness and Attention Warning (DDAW) systems: using cameras, eye tracking sensors and real-time data analysis to pick up signs of fatigue, such as erratic steering patterns, and alert the driver.
- Emergency Stop Signal: a flashing brake light that automatically activates if the vehicle speed is above 50 km/h and the vehicle decelerates very rapidly, or the anti-lock braking system (ABS) is activated.
- Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA): combining cameras (sign recognition) and GPS technology to actively monitor speed and alert the driver when breaking speed limits.
- Emergency Lane Keeping Systems (ELK): using sensors and cameras to help drivers keep the vehicle in a safe position on the road.
- Reversing Obstacle Detection: combining radar, ultrasonic sensors and cameras to give the driver an overview of objects and people behind the vehicle when reversing.
- Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS): incorporating tire pressure sensors to provide drivers with immediate warnings of pressure loss.
These ‘phase one’ requirements also extended to newly manufactured examples of existing vehicle models from July 2024. 
The GSR builds on these advanced safety measures in ‘phase two’, which will impact all new vehicle models launched since July 2024 and apply to newly manufactured vehicles from July 2026. For example, sensors will need to recognize pedestrians and cyclists, as well as potential vehicle collisions, to activate automatic emergency braking (AEB).
This second phase includes a mandate to incorporate advanced driver distraction warning (ADWW) systems. These actively detect distractions and observe driver eye movements to guard against the risk of a distraction-related accident. If drivers are distracted for 3.5 seconds at speeds above 50km/h or more than 6 seconds at speeds between 20-50km/h, the system will alert the driver.
‘Phase three’ focuses on trucks and buses, with an emphasis on improving driver vision and awareness of vulnerable road users, such as cyclists and pedestrians.
Powering enhanced vehicle safety standards
The active safety features mandated by the GSR across all three phases have the potential to reduce the risk of accidents or – at the very least – lower the chances of serious collisions that result in fatalities or major injuries.
A network of highly optimized microcontrollers, power efficient processors, advanced sensors and cameras built into each vehicle is making this possible. These electronics underpin the advanced safety technologies assisting drivers and ultimately, saving lives.
As vehicle functionality and safety improves with every new model, the number of electronics components embedded into each vehicle will continue to increase. While a car in the late 1970s might have contained one electronic control unit (ECU) and around ten semiconductors, its counterpart today is likely to rely on more than 80 electronic control units and over 8,000 semiconductors. This trend will be sustained by mandates like the revised GSR, as well as additional low emissions legislation, demand and accelerate further electronics-powered innovation.
Revolutionizing road safety 
Sensors – enabled by semiconductors powering and processing data throughout the car – underpin increasingly complex automotive systems, gathering data from inside and outside the vehicle to assist drivers, reduce the risk of accidents through human error and, ultimately, create safer roads.
The revised GSR reflects just how crucial this technology is, and will continue to be, as vehicle safety standards evolve. Looking ahead, the semiconductor industry has a key role to play in developing sustainable solutions that enable car manufacturers to comply with stringent EU regulations both today, and in the future.
- Discover more on ST Automotive safety solutions
