Romanian Communications Minister Signs eCall Memorandum

According to the Communications Ministry, Sandu signed the eCall Memorandum of Understanding to implement the in-car automatic emergency call system which aims to reduce the number of road accident fatalities. Romania was invited to join the group of 15 states which will implement the eCall system’s pilot phase in Europe. The European Commission will finance the project’s pilot phase and its promotion through the Competitiveness and Innovation Program.

Malta, Poland, Belgium, Denmark and Luxemburg also signed the Memorandum on Tuesday.

The on-board emergency call system automatically dials 112 in case of serious car accidents and sends the car’s location to the nearest emergency service. The eCall system is able to provide information regarding the exact location of the accident, even when the passengers do not know or are unable to say where they are. The system reduces the time needed by emergency services to reach the scene of the accident to 50% in rural areas and 40% in urban areas.