Two in three eCall activations are false alarms – study

Two-thirds of calls from an emergency system in UK vehicles are false alarms, new research has found. Charity the RAC Foundation, which commissioned the study into eCall activations, said the findings suggest the process is "unfamiliar" for many drivers. When eCall is triggered, a vehicle calls 999 and provides the emergency services with information such as vehicle type and location.

The system is activated either automatically - often when airbags are deployed - or manually by pressing a button often labelled "SOS". It has been a legal requirement for most cars and vans sold in the UK to have the technology installed since April 2018. Transport expert Dr Nick Reed, who conducted the study for the RAC Foundation, found that more than 85% of eCall alerts made last year were triggered manually.

About three-quarters of those were false alarms, according to the research. This is compared with approximately one in three automatic calls. Taken together, about two-thirds of all calls last year were false alarms.

Some 350,000 calls have been made since April 2018. The report found common causes of manual false alarms include "button misuse, poor interface design, system faults and demonstration presses at dealerships". Dr Reed listed several high-profile incidents where a significant difference is likely to have been made if eCall was available.

One was the Selby train crash of 2001 which left 10 people dead when a Land Rover careered off the M62 motorway in North Yorkshire and came to a standstill on train tracks. A train derailed when it struck the vehicle, and then a second train hit the first. The report stated that eCall could provide emergency services with "better information more quickly" when a vehicle breaks down in a live lane on a smart motorway without a hard shoulder, compared with stopped vehicle detection systems, which rely on radar technology.

The author recommended that more of the information provided by eCall should be passed on to road management organisations such as National Highways. He also warned that owners of up to four million cars and vans fitted with early versions of eCall could find themselves with systems with do not work because they rely on 2G and 3G mobile phone networks, which are progressively being deactivated. Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said eCall is "a great idea" and can be "particularly useful in remote areas where no other road users are on hand to dial 999".

He went on: "However, this report reveals a number of shortcomings in the system that need sorting, not least in the processes through which data is handled and the system's historical reliance on old mobile phone networks that are being turned off. "This requires urgent attention otherwise lives could be at risk from life-saving technology failing when it's needed most. "The number of manually triggered false alarms also suggests the need for action to explain what is clearly still an unfamiliar system for many drivers."

Dr Reed said: "The case for accelerating the emergency response to road crashes through the eCall alert system is clear.

"The report highlights that its effectiveness is being undermined by challenges in exploiting the data it provides and by a high rate of false alerts, often triggered by accidental misuse.

"As an ever-increasing proportion of vehicles are equipped with eCall and similar functionalities become available via smartphones, smartwatches and dashcams, it is essential that we assess the true value of these technologies and ensure we unlock their full, life-saving potential."