All new vehicles will be equipped with system by 2019
DUBAI 10 October 2017: Your car will autonomously dial the emergency number in case of a crash – helping civil defence and paramedics to reach you faster.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), in cooperation with Abu Dhabi and Dubai Police, announced the approval of a number of emergency centres in the UAE to support the eCall system for automatic call in the event of traffic accidents.
The ‘eCall’ system automatically makes voice calls and sends the vehicle data to the Monitoring & Control Centre of the geographical location of the accident. It electronically displays all the necessary data in the Monitoring & Control Centre, with the capability to talk with the driver of the vehicle (if necessary).
The eCall system will automatically connect the vehicle to the emergency authorities. The system senses the magnitude of the accident, and immediately contact the nearest emergency centre, accurately transmitting the geographical location of the incident as well as other relevant data. Regardless of whether the call is made automatically or manually, the eCall provides voice communication between the vehicle and the emergency centre staff, where passengers could answer questions about their condition, and provide the emergency centre with more data to help them provide the appropriate assistance.
The importance of the new system is especially important in the event of traffic accidents where the driver is unable to communicate due to injury, particularly on the high roads, and empty spaces. The system contributes effectively and decisively to saving lives and requesting the needed assistance.
The UAE is the first in the Middle East in implementing this initiative on this scale.
It has been decided that all new vehicles imported into the UAE will be equipped with a smart feature for automatic communication in the event of accidents, as of the beginning of 2019. All vehicles will be equipped with the best technologies that accelerate the rescue and aid in all traffic accidents in the UAE. This initiative is an early implementation of the concepts of smart city, and an enhancement of the smart lifestyle.
The new system will allow automatic and voice information to be received and logged into the system simultaneously rather than printing commands in a conventional manner. This would reduce the level of human error in locating the accident, and achieve the highest level of integration in emergency response.
“The eCall initiative is part of TRA’s mission to improve the quality of services to the people, and enhance community happiness based on the ICT sector. We are working according to a single compass defined by the UAE Vision and the directives of the wise leadership, as the digital knowledge economy is being founded based on the concepts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Smart City, where speed is a crucial factor of both service provision and results achievement in general,” said Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General.
Major General Mohammed Khalfan Al Romaithi, Commander-in-Chief of Abu Dhabi Police, said: ‘The advanced system provides innovative solutions to enhance the speed of response when traffic accident occur, and is the first system in the Middle East to receive emergency eCalls”.
He noted that Abu Dhabi Police response centres are ready to use the new system.
Brigadier Kamel Butti Al Suwaidi, Director of General Department of Operations at Dubai Police, said the Monitoring & Control Centre at Dubai Police is ready to provide the eCall system service.