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Let the car do the thinking for you
Brussels sprouts another idea

By Jo Best

Published: Wednesday 17 December 2008

The EC has had enough of pollution spewing motors and traffic jams and is aiming to tackle them both with its latest vehicle initiative.

The Commission has backed a scheme to introduce intelligent transport systems - a mixture of existing information and communication technologies - into road vehicles to cut congestion as well as carbon.

Under an action plan adopted yesterday, the Commission aims to introduce a single intelligent transport system governing driving, navigation and entertainment, which should be introduced across the European Union to help drivers dodge traffic-clogged roads.

Drivers could be given information on busy roads, weather forecasts and speed limits to help them find the most suitable routes, while information on travel garnered from the system could also be fed back to those in charge of member states' road systems.

In time, the EC also hopes to see the system gain other capabilities in areas including vehicle safety, such as the potential introduction of collision avoidance systems and driver speed alerts.

Additional functionality developed for subsets of professional drivers could also be added: the ability to track stolen freight lorries carrying dangerous goods, for example.

The new generation of intelligent transport systems will take advantage of Galileo, the European answer to GPS expected to be accurate to within 10cm.

A working group will be convened next year to see the action plan become a reality with a new EC directive already on the cards.