All new cars in the United Arab Emirates will come with the eCall system from 2021 onwards, Abu Dhabi officials announced on Monday.
The system is designed to send automatic alerts to the closest police emergency centres in the event of a road accident.
New models of all kinds of vehicles that come to the UAE from 2021 will be equipped with the system in accordance with the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology standards, according to
Abdullah Salman of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).
The systems are intended to cut down on the reporting time when vehicles are involved in accidents, which will in turn reduce the number of deaths and acute injuries caused by such accidents, officials say.
The In-Vehicle System (IVS) for eCall will be fitted in all vehicles so that in the event of an accident, the nearest police emergency centre will receive an automatically generated alert.
The configuration of the system will come with particular parameters and will be developed in conjunction with the different features of certain cars, including sensors and airbags.
In the event of an accident, the closest police operation centre in the UAE will be able to be warned within just a few seconds, Salman claims.
The eCall system will be able to give police details of the accident’s precise location, number of passengers, status of the vehicle and time.
The features will be integrated into cars based on the global vehicle manufacturing standards.
Small and heavy UAE vehicles alike will be fitted with the eCall system.
The possibility of having the system implemented in existing vehicles is under assessment by the TRA, Salman says.
Authorities such as ESMA are also looking at the possibility.
The director of Wireless Networks and Services, Mohamed Jadah, says that the system shortens accident response times and provides authorities with the information they need for ambulance and rescue operations.
Great strides have been made in the introduction of modern tools and technology, according to the head of Abu Dhabi Police Central Operations, Brigadier General Nasser Suleiman Al Maskari.
The new system supports the efforts of police within the integrated response system, which is the first of its kind in regard to police leadership, and intends to increase effective empowerment and break records within this area, Al Maskari says.
An advanced database is also being run by the police department via its centres to get all types of reports and use existing mechanisms to address them and provide the public with a swift service.
Operators’ networks Etisalat and du have been through all necessary tests already, as performed by the TRA, to ensure that they are capable of activating and operating the eCall system to optimum efficiency, and were internationally accredited back in 2015.
The system will also allow all concerned entities within the UAE to be able to gain access to accidents in record time.
Anyone driving a car in the UAE is under a legal obligation to be covered by a car insurance policy to ensure financial protection in the event of accident.