What is the GSR package?
General Safety Regulations is a major EU project to improve road safety. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to standardize equipment in cars – first trucks, and soon in cars or coaches.
Work on the GSR package has been going on for years (it began in 2009), and the final stage of implementation is currently scheduled for completion in 2029.
Initially, the main goal of the GSR was to reduce road fatalities in the European Union by 50% by 2020. From the start of the work until 2018, it managed to reduce this by 21%, and while this was not a bad result, it meant that there were still around 25,000 people losing their lives each year in road accidents in the EU.
So changes had to be made, and so was born a sizable update to the GSR package, which was unveiled in 2019. On this occasion, the term “vision zero” was coined, that is, the vision of reducing the number of fatalities to zero in 2050. A major step toward the goal is to be an updated version of GSR, which is already in operation.
New mandatory equipment in trucks
GSR regulations include, among others. Guidelines for mandatory equipment that must be present on trucks. The new regulations have covered approvals since July 2022. Newly registered cars, on the other hand, will be required to have the appropriate systems from July 2024. What is on the list of mandatory equipment?
Start-up information system (MOIS)
Moving Off Information System detects objects just in front of the vehicle’s hood. The solution is designed to warn the driver should he or she want to move the car without checking if there is anything in front of him or her. This is especially important in the case of large trucks, where the driver may not see, for example, a pedestrian passing right in front of the hood.
Blind spot sensors (BSIS)
Blind Spot Information System is a solution that is especially useful for drivers of large vehicles. The bigger the car, the bigger the so called “car’s” usually are. Blind spots, i.e. areas that the driver cannot see in the mirrors. BSIS detects objects or people that are in blind spots.
Important!
A draft of further changes under the GSR stipulates that in 2029 truck manufacturers will have to design cabs to reduce areas around the vehicle that are invisible to the driver as much as possible.
Reversal information system (REIS)
The Reversing Information System contains a set of sensors and cameras that help the driver maneuver the vehicle while in reverse. These are nothing more than the mandatory parking sensors that we are very familiar with from passenger cars.
Speed warning system (ISA)
Intelligent Speed Assist is a system designed to warn the driver if he or she is speeding. Importantly, this solution does not affect the vehicle’s speed – it does not reduce it or force changes in driving, but only reminds the driver to take his foot off the gas.
Driver fatigue warning (DDAW)
Modern trucks will be required to have a DDAW system that warns of possible fatigue based on logged operating time. As early as 2026, however, additional functionality will be required – a system designed to monitor driver behavior. Sensors deployed in the cabin will detect whether the driver has focused attention, and if symptoms of distraction are detected, they will let you know by activating an audible signal.
Tire pressure monitoring system (TPSM)
Sensors installed in the wheels (usually on the rim or valve) monitor tire pressure in real time and will inform the driver when the pressure begins to drop.
Base for the installation of an anti-alcohol lock
Every truck registered from July 2024 should include a system that allows the installation of an alcohol interlock device. This interlock will stop the driver from starting the vehicle if he/she fails to check his/her sobriety using the breathalyzer present on board the car.
Summary
The seven items listed make up the full list of mandatory equipment required by the latest GSR update. The task of each of these systems is to reduce the likelihood of error on the part of the driver – hence the fatigue detection sensors, blind spot monitoring or speeding warning system.
It is worth mentioning here that the conditions of the regulations must be met by all trucks that want to be approved as early as July 2022, while in July 2024 each of these elements will have to be included in new factory trucks. What about passenger cars? Many of these systems also need to be present in passenger cars, but not all of them – as smaller cars don’t need blind spot sensors or obstacle warning systems as much as trucks or buses.
The main goal of the new regulations is to improve road safety, which clearly comes at a cost. Consider that truck prices are bound to change as well – but this is not a change to be avoided. Safety systems need to be present in cars anyway, even older ones.
