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All new cars in Ireland to be equipped to dial emergency services if you crash

eCall is a new life-saving technology which will be fitted to all new cars from today.

AS OF THIS weekend, all new models of cars and light vans will be fitted with technology that will call the emergency services in the event of a crash.

All new models of cars must now have an electronic safety system built-in that will automatically call Ireland’s emergency call answering service (ECAS) in the event of a serious accident.

eCall is a European-wide initiative introduced to bring fast assistance to motorists involved in a collision anywhere in the EU.

How does it work? 

Once the car senses a severe impact the eCall device automatically initiates a 112 emergency call to ECAS. It then transmits vehicle’s exact location to emergency services, the time of incident and the direction of travel (most important on motorways).

Even if the driver is unconscious or unable to make the call, perhaps due to injuries, a minimum set of data is sent, which includes the exact location of the crash site.

Whether the call is made manually or automatically, there will always be a voice connection between the vehicle and emergency services.

The alert can also be triggered manually by pushing a button in the car, for example by the driver or witness of the accident.

It’s believed the alert system will cut emergency services’ response time in the countryside by 50% and in built-up areas by 60%.

Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes said the life-saving technology fitted in all new cars from today, will help to increase the safety of road users by significantly reducing the arrival time of rescue services in the event of a major accident.

“Around 25,500 people lost their lives and 135,000 were seriously injured on EU roads in 2016. While this was 2% down on the 2015 figure, the reduction may be too small to ensure that the EU meets its target of halving road fatalities between 2010 and 2020,” he said.

Data protection

As eCall normally ‘sleeps’, it does not allow vehicle tracking outside emergencies. Concern over data sharing was one of the reasons the roll-out of the new system was delayed.

Though the proposal was first flagged in 2012, due to worries about privacy concerns it was held back. However, it was eventually agreed that only basic data will be sent and only when an accident occurs.

Hayes said EU member states and manufacturers had been given enough time to prepare infrastructure and technologies, so that the eCall can start to work immediately.

In order to be ready for the start date, Ireland’s emergency call answering service has been upgraded to ensure its infrastructure can handle the new technology.

Communications Minister Denis Naughten said the advancements in precise location technology both in our cars and on our phones ensures our emergency personnel are supported in their work with modern technology that will have a profound effect in practice.

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    Mute Darren Davis
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    Jan 12th 2019, 2:16 PM

    Thanks for the recipes. The soup was lovely, I’ll try the compost one for lunch tomorrow

    47
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    Mute Mal
    Favourite Mal
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    Jan 12th 2019, 1:11 PM

    Thanks that does sound simple

    29
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    Mute ianglen
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    Jan 12th 2019, 2:23 PM

    Neighbour put out a compost bin last at back of house and the rats had a field day.
    Put it as far away from your house if you can..

    14
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    Mute Brian McCarthy
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    Jan 13th 2019, 4:20 PM

    @ianglen: you’re putting the wrong stuff in the composter
    if it’s attracting rats

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    Mute Sean
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    Jan 12th 2019, 2:59 PM

    Composting is amazing all right. Did you know that you can get rid of a 1000 pound cow in just six weeks by covering it in eight cubic yards of wood mulch? Basic recipe. Place the carcass on a bed of wood chips 2 feet deep, then cover it to a depth of about 4 feet, with at least 2 feet on the sides.It doesn’t attract flies or vermin or smell. It just disappears! All you are left with is some large bones.

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    Mute Garreth Byrne
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    Jan 12th 2019, 3:22 PM

    @Sean: How many suburban and town gardeners have got a 1000 pound dead cow to begin with?

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    Mute WoodlandBard
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    Jan 12th 2019, 4:18 PM

    @Garreth Byrne: i think this may have started as a Dublin gangster technique that eventually got adapted to farm animals.

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    Mute Garreth Byrne
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    Jan 12th 2019, 6:59 PM

    @WoodlandBard: I see. So composted dead cows and composted dead gangstas are equally effective in organic vegetable gardening, eh? IOFGA and the Soil Association might have reservations.

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    Mute Tweety McTweeter
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    Jan 12th 2019, 2:48 PM

    Dampening it down with a bleach mix every so often gets rid of the smell and kills off the yucky bugs and insects

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    Mute Ryan Dub
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    Jan 12th 2019, 5:26 PM

    @Tweety McTweeter: Do not put bleach in the garden.

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Jan 12th 2019, 5:44 PM

    @Tweety McTweeter: would you tuck into a nice glass of bleach? If your answer is no, then do not put it on any compost that you intend to use for growing food. Also, if your compost smells that badly it means you’re doing it completely wrong.

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    Mute helen walsh
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    Jan 12th 2019, 4:45 PM

    Yes, how do you keep vermin away from compost heaps, their urine and droppings are bound to infect the compost heap…

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    Mute silentbob2012
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    Jan 13th 2019, 12:00 AM

    @helen walsh: simple. It’s not a black art.Everything for your compost heap must be uncooked and plant based. That means no cooked foods, no fats, no carbs, no oils. Egg shells excepted but it helps to break them down before chucking ‘em on your compost. Mix in cardboard, unbleached paper and newspaper from time to time, layered grass clippings, any garden vegetation as in the article above and away you go. If you’ve got rats or mice, you’ve been putting in foodstuffs.

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    Mute datagharch
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    Sep 18th 2019, 8:41 AM

    thanks alot

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    Mute David Cagney
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    Jan 13th 2019, 10:40 AM

    I don’t have a square yard, it’s more rectangular, with a circular end – so none of this is going to work.

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    Mute Ciarán Mac Cormaic
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    Jan 13th 2019, 4:55 PM

    @David Cagney: You might still be able to have the soup.

    3
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