EU says new car safety rules can save 5,000 lives
ju4 wa4i dia4n zo1ng he2 ba4o da4o :\n  BRUSSELS, May 23 (Reuters) - The European Commission\nunveiled new vehicle safety rules on Friday that it said could\nsave 5,000 lives a year on Europe's roads and help reduce\ngreenhouse gas emissions by cutting fuel consumption.\nFrom 2012, all new cars sold in the European Union will have\nto be fitted with advanced low-noise, low-resistance tyres, tyre\npressure monitoring systems and electronic stability controls.\nManufacturers will have to build advanced emergency brakes\nand lane departure warning systems into all new heavy-duty\nvehicles from the same date.\nA Commission spokesman told reporters the new security\nstandards were expected to add between 100 and 300 euros ($157\nand $472) to the price of a new car, but the extra cost would be\nmore than offset over the car's lifetime by savings on petrol.\n"We think based on Danish studies that we can save 5,000\nlives a year by the introduction of electronic stability\ncontrols for all vehicles including passenger cars and lane\ndeparture warning systems and assisted emergency braking systems\nfor heavy vehicles," spokesman Ton Van Lierop said.\nThe proposed regulation sets more stringent noise emission\nlimits for tyres than existing laws and introduces new\nrequirements on wet grip and rolling resistance to help reduce\ncarbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from cars and trucks.\nVan Lierop acknowledged that some of the new safety features\nwere already built into some cars but said that making them\nmandatory would bring big improvements.\nThe rules, which must be approved by EU governments and the\nEuropean Parliament, should cut petrol consumption by 5 percent\nand reduce vehicle emissions by some 7 grams per km, he said.\nThe Commission has proposed that average emissions for new\ncars be limited to 120 g/km from 2012, with fines for\nmanufacturers whose fleet exceeds that limit.\nImproved engine technology is meant to bring the average\ndown to 130 g/km from the current level of more than 160 g/km,\nand improvements in tyres, gears, air conditioning and other\nfeatures are supposed to deliver a further 10 g/km.\nAs part of its drive to simplify and reduce the amount of EU\nregulation, the Commission proposed replacing 50 existing\ndirectives, and about 100 amendments, with a single regulation\non safety requirements for motor vehicles.\nThe rules would apply first to new vehicles, allowing a\ntransition period for adapting vehicles already on the road.\nVan Lierop denied charges by the campaign group Transport\nand Environment that the EU regulation would exempt gas-guzzling\nsports utility vehicles (SUVs) from the tyre noise standards.\nThe only exemption was for four-wheel-drive vehicles used\noff the roads by fire, police and emergency services, he said.\n(Reporting by Paul Taylor; Editing by Dale Hudson)\n((paul.taylor@thomsonreuters.com; 322 2876801; Reuters\nMessaging: paul.taylor.reuters.com@reuters.net))\n($1=.6360 euro)\nKeywords: EU CARS/\nKeywords: EU CARS/=2