The European Commission has proposed new changes to the rules on road safety and the registration of motor vehicles. The revised rules will take into account the growing number of electric cars and will introduce stricter technical checks, including for air pollution, BTA reports.
Among the main proposals is the introduction of digital certificates for vehicle registration and their technical inspections. The Commission also proposes to simplify the exchange of data between EU member states and to introduce protections against odometer manipulation. According to EC calculations, these measures will save around 7,000 lives and prevent around 65,000 serious injuries by 2050.
Electric vehicles are expected to undergo additional checks on electronic safety systems, including software components. All cars will be required to register mileage data, which will be accessible to all other EU countries. In addition, roadworthiness test data for passenger cars will be introduced in electronic format and stored on a common platform, with these data being mutually recognised for a period of six months.
The proposals will be examined by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The Commission stresses that the aim is to have almost no road deaths in the EU by 2050 and to halve the current number by 2030. According to data from March, road deaths in the EU are gradually decreasing, but progress remains too slow, the European Commission says.