From July 7, a new braking system is required in all new cars sold in Europe, without exception. Here’s what will change.
This is the last phase of the General Safety Regulation, this new European regulation which aims to strengthen safety on the roads. Already in 2022 and 2024, all new cars put into circulation in the EU have had to be equipped with new driving aids such as intelligent speed adaptation, emergency lane keeping, drowsiness and loss of attention alert or even the event data recorder, a sort of “black box”, now compulsory. And from July 7, 2026, all new cars registered in Europe will have to comply with additional safety requirements.
First, the advanced driver distraction alert is being improved: it no longer only detects fatigue by analyzing micro-movements of the steering wheel. From now on, an infrared camera becomes mandatory to scrutinize the driver’s gaze and head movements. Concretely, if the system detects that you take your eyes off the road for too long, an audible and visual alert will be triggered. Also, new cars will have to be designed to better protect pedestrians in the event of a collision, that is to say with a body that absorbs more shock to limit the risk of head injuries in particular. And it is precisely to guarantee better safety for pedestrians and other vulnerable users that a new braking system is necessary.
Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 plans to extend the capabilities of autonomous emergency braking. Until now, this system allowed cars to brake automatically in the event of an imminent collision with another vehicle. But from July, it will also have to be able to recognize pedestrians and cyclists, thanks to much more powerful radars, in order to avoid an accident. The car must warn the driver before braking for him, using a visual, audible or vibrating alert. But in heavy traffic, these alerts could well be more frequent than you think.
Of course, the regulations also provide safeguards so that the machine does not completely take precedence over the human: if the activation of autonomous emergency braking is done by default, it must be possible to deactivate it manually, and above all to override it. If the driver jerks the steering wheel suddenly or crushes the accelerator (for example to make an evasive maneuver), the system must return control immediately.
Still to increase safety on the roads, this emergency braking will also be accompanied by a new detail: the brake lights will flash in the event of sudden deceleration, on the part of the driver or the automatic system. The aim is to differentiate simple braking from sudden and urgent braking, in order to warn the vehicle behind and avoid a collision. Concretely, this last phase of the General Safety Regulation marks the end of passive cars: from now on, our vehicles will take a much more active part in driving, by monitoring both their external environment and the driver’s internal behavior.
