The European Parliament has approved the introduction of an eCall system by 2009. Welcomed as "the first building block of intelligent car initiative", eCall promises to accelerate road-accident response time, reduce the severity of road accidents and therefore contribute "to the objective of reducing road deaths in the EU". As part of the eSafety initiative, the eCall scheme consists of a harmonisation of in-vehicle emergency call, Europe-wide.

An eCall system installed in vehicles would use satellite technology to alert the nearest emergency services to the exact location of a vehicle, in the event of an accident and which could save up to 2,500 lives a year. eCall would bring about a reduction of up to 15% in the gravity of injuries. The agonising wait for emergency services after a road accident could be cut by up to 50% while European road deaths could fall by 5-10%.