New cars in the EU to have speed limiters and breathalyzers

Image: FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI/AFP/Getty Images

The European Union has agreed on new rules stating that all cars built after May 2022 and sold in the European Union will have built-in speed limiters, as well as breathalyzers that won’t allow driving if the driver is intoxicated. 

The European Parliament is expected to ratify the new regulations in September. The UK, which may not be part of the European Union by then, will nevertheless adopt the new rules as well. 

The list of new mandatory safety features for cars is actually much longer, and includes some increasingly common features like lane-keeping assistance, advanced emergency braking, a built-in data recorder, drowsiness and distraction monitoring, and camera/sensors help when reversing. 

“With the new advanced safety features that will become mandatory, we can have the same kind of impact as when the safety belts were first introduced. Many of the new features already exist, in particular in high–end vehicles. Now we raise the safety level across the board, and pave the way for connected and automated mobility of the future,” Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska said in a statement.

But the features that will likely get the most attention are “alcohol interlock installation facilitation” and “intelligent speed assistance.”

The former typically requires the drive to blow into an in-car breathalyzer before starting the car. If the driver’s alcohol level is too high, the car simply won’t start. The details of the system that will be mandatory in EU cars are scarce at this point. 

The latter feature uses GPS as well as a built-in sign recognition system to detect if the car is going over the speed limit. If it is, the system will warn the driver and automatically slow down the car. However, the driver will be able to override this by pushing on the accelerator pedal. 

The European Commission points out that 25,300 people died on EU roads in 2017, while another 135,000 were seriously injured. The new measures “could save up to 10,500 lives and avoid close to 60,000 serious injuries over 2020-2030,” according to the EC. The EC also claims that these new rules should have “little to no impact” on the price of new cars.