GSR2 safety regulations have made at least 20 technologies standard on all new cars sold in the EU and the UK – and will legislate some out of existence.
The arsenal of standard safety equipment, brought in under the anonymously titled General Safety Regulations 2 (GSR2), will also add more costs to cheaper cars, likely increasing their prices.
The changes had been in discussion at the UN and the EU for a decade before the EU finalised its proposals in 2019.
They’re being introduced in two main phases. The first went live on 6 July 2023 and the second will come later, in 2024, although some technologies are on a slightly different timetable.
That means all new cars launched after 6 July 2022, regardless of price or engineering suitability, have to comply; and soon, existing cars already on the market will have to be modified or retrofitted to stay on sale.
This retrofitting is what will kill off many cars. For instance, the Renault Zoe has been withdrawn from sale because making it comply with GSR2 regulations would be too expensive. The required safety kit can’t easily be built into the car’s architecture, which was essentially first introduced in 2012. The rules will also restrict Alpine A110 sales.
Insurance industry
The insurance and safety industry, of course, is much more sanguine about the introduction of GSR2.
“This is essentially tidying up existing laws and an update of GSR1, which has been around since 1998, especially since many of these new safety features are already incorporated into existing Euro NCAP [safety] ratings,” said Matthew Avery, formerly the director of research for UK insurance and safety organisation Thatcham Research, and a senior Euro NCAP team member.
The motive behind GSR2 was an EU push to halve the number of road deaths by 2020 and “move close to” zero road deaths by 2050.
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It's just the EU regulating what people can have by jacking up the prices so Joe Average can't afford a new car. Glad we left that absolute farce.
I'm glad we left too but for other reasons. If we want to sell cars to the EU then we have to comply.
However the UK government have agreed to align themselves with the EU on this which means in makes no difference whether the UK is in or out of the EU on this matter. Anyone selling cars to the UK will have to adhere to the new rules.
How well does drowsiness detection, whether IR or not, work through eye movement if you are wearing spectacles, especially sunglasses?
When you tell people things like this are likely, they will tell you that 'you are a tin foil hat wearing'..and things like 'if you've done nothing wrong, then there is nothing to worry about'...