General News: eSafety Forum presents «Saving Lives Awards»

Date: 14 November 2008

At the 2008 award ceremony of eSafety Forum's “Saving Lives Awards”, Mrs Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for the Information Society and Media, rewarded personalities and organisations which have made outstanding contributions to accelerating the deployment of road safety systems based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The laureates' activities have substantially improved road safety in Europe and supported the Commission’s objective for 2010 to reduce by 50% the number of road fatalities on Europe’s roads.

For 2008, the award winners were selected from the three categories of road safety stakeholders: Industry & Technology, Policy & Administration, and Lifetime Achievement. The 2008 Industry & Technology award was presented to Robert BOSCH GmbH. BOSCH is well-known for their efforts to make cars safer and for their outstanding achievements, based on a focused marketing and communication strategy, to accelerate the deployment in the European market of eSafety technology ESC (Electronic Stability Control). Through the development and use of dedicated ESC marketing tools, Bosch has increased awareness and knowledge about ESC. The award was received by Mr. Bernd Bohr, member of the Board of Management of Robert BOSCH GmbH.

The 2008 Policy & Administration award was presented to the Swedish Road Administration (SRA) for its innovative and effective initiatives contributing in different ways to the deployment of eSafety systems in Sweden. One of the Swedish Road Administration's most remarkable achievements was that ESC, Electronic Stability Control, is built into 97% of all new cars sold in Sweden, an unmatched success. This success was based on an excellent multi-stage awareness campaign creating full customer understanding and demand for this life saving device. The prize was received by Mr. Anders Lie, who, together with Professor Claes Tingvall, made a distinguished personal contribution to accelerating the deployment of eSafety systems by promoting the inclusion of such systems in the EuroNCAP rating.

The 2008 Lifetime Achievement award was presented to Dr. Gerhard Rollmann, Chairman of the Strategic Automotive Radar Frequency Allocation Group (SARA). Dr. Rollmann has shown full commitment to promoting road safety throughout his professional career. His remarkable work in sensor and radar technology, e.g. his active engagement in the development of the new ultra wide band short range radar technology as the basis for safety applications, were of utmost importance for the eSafety initiative. In her speech, Ms. Viviane Reding, the EU Commissioner responsible for the Information Society and Media stressed that as a result of the hard work of the laureates, it had been possible to demonstrate the key role of ICT in preventing accidents and reducing fatalities in road transport.

Ms. Zita Gurmai, Member of the European Parliament, raised the issue of the eCall system as an important example for an ICT based technology which would significantly reduce road fatalities in the future. She also pointed out that these systems would help reduce congestion and alleviate environmental problems.

In his brief intervention Mr. Hermann Meyer, CEO of ERTICO - ITS Europe, stressed the industry's commitment to promote eSafety systems, and the importance to move from research to deployment of such systems.

At the eSafety award ceremony (from left to right)

Anders Lie, SRA; Zita Gurmai MEP; Bernd Bohr,

Robert Bosch GmbH; Commissioner Viviane Reding;

Gerhard Rollmann, SARA; Hermann Meyer, ERTICO.