On 2 February 2006 Mr Lars Westerberg, CEO of Autoliv AB, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that aims at realising the interoperable, pan-European in-vehicle emergency call system, eCall. Autoliv handed over the official document at the last meeting of eCall Driving Group’s  Sub-Working Group Performance Criteria on 13 February. By signing the MoU, Autoliv, a provider for automotive safety, recognises the importance of eCall along with a long list of other stakeholders (download the list here).

eCall is an in-vehicle emergency call that may be triggered manually by pushing a button in the vehicle or automatically when a vehicle senses that a crash has occurred. In the event of an accident, eCall technology will call the emergency services (Public Safety Answering Point – PSAP) and transmit a so-called minimum set of data (MSD). This enables emergency personnel to obtain details about the accident and their response time can be reduced up to 50%.

The MoU, which was created in May 2004, provides a solid basis for the partners to actively contribute to the development and implementation of eCall in potentially all new vehicles sold in Europe by 2009.