The European Union intends to apply a new regulation on cars sold in EU member countries in all of Europe. From 2009 newly produced cars should be equipped with a special system for automatic emergency phone dialing. The new technology called eCall can be activated manually, by pressing a button, automatically- with the opening of the protective air bag or with the assistance of special sensors. When functioning the system gives information of your exact location through mobile connection (the same as a mobile telephone). That sounds like the perfect decision for people in distress who are not fully aware of their location on the roads. The system is suitable not only for car crash situations but it also helps when you run out of gas or the car stops in the middle of nowhere. In both cases that innovation would considerably lessen the time spent by the rescue teams on simply locating and finding the accident scene.
However, for the successful work of the new technology it is required for all member countries to modernize their emergency call receiving centers in a way that all help cries are to be transferred to the closest possible rescue team. Such a project would require perfect cooperation and coordination between people of different countries and languages, opposing working shifts and habits. The process will be long and difficult but if it turns out successful over 2 000 people from all European countries will be saved each year, as at present around 50 000 people die every year in car crashes in EU countries alone.
