Fitting Europe's cars with seat belt reminders
ETSC 's second lunch debate took place on 3 May 2005 to address the contribution to safety of seat belt reminders. Anders Kullgren, Folksam Research and Development, first presented how seat belts and seat belt reminders are essential devices to increase safety: "At least 7000 lives could be saved and many more injuries avoided if everybody wore their seat belt." Legislation is clear: since 1991 the use of safety restraints is obligatory for all car occupants. In May 2006, a new Directive will come into force that extends the obligatory use of seat belts to all motor vehicles, including trucks and buses.
This Directive is much needed because front seat belt wearing rates vary between 53% and 92% in the EU member states. Even worse many studies showed that belt use in accidents is significantly lower as only between 30% and 50% are buckled in fatal crashes. Misinformation is part of the reason why belts are not yet always buckled: people think that seat belts are not a necessity in urban locations or at slow speeds. But more importantly from the point of view of Anders Kullgren: "People simply forget to wear seat belts. 99% of people who unbuckle don't fundamentally disagree to use their seat belt but simply need a system that reminds them to wear it." In this circumstance having a seat belt reminder makes sense and would be very useful to save lives.
Various studies showed that seat belt reminders are most effective when they are both visible and audible. But it is less clear whether seat belt reminders should be installed in all seats. EuroNCAP's Seat Belt Reminder Assessment Protocol demonstrates that it is feasible to have seat belt reminders installed on all seats, including removable ones, providing that short term deactivation for individual journeys and long term deactivation for dedicated non-users of seat belts may be used. In 2004 EuroNCAP started to provide added point bonuses for vehicles fitted with seat belt reminders. It is expected that the protocol will continue to develop, in the light of experience with these new systems.
Cost of seat belt reminders
"The price of seat belt reminders in new cars varies between 0 and 100 euros, 
depending on whether cars have both audible and visible signals and on whether all seats of a car are fitted with seat belt reminders", says Jacques Provensal from ACEA. The most expensive systems are the ones for rear seats which are more complex as they need to detect whether the seat is occupied by a human person or not. But the overall price remains very reasonable if compared with the cost of other added extras.
Car industry's state of advancement in introducing seat belt reminders
As consumers take more of an interest in purchasing safe cars, manufacturers will be progressively given the incentive to install seat belt reminders in their cars.
The EuroNCAP safety rating programme will help to accelerate this process. Speaking on behalf of the automotive industry, Jacques Provensal said he would prefer to have seat belt reminders introduced via legislation rather than via self-regulation. But before that, several issues should be jointly solved and agreed upon by government, the car industry and other stakeholders to define what is the most effective seat belt reminder. The industry is currently doing a study to assess the most effective systems in addition to the fifth version of the Euro NCAP protocol for seat belt reminders. The study includes issues such as the car travelling speed at which the seat belt reminder audible warning should be triggered or the level and duration of the sound emitted by the seat belt reminder warning signal. The results will be available by mid 2005, enabling all stakeholders to objectively measure the right type of seat belt reminder.
In the meantime several car companies are setting the pace. The Volvo group has already introduced seat belt reminders in the majority of its cars, trucks and buses. "The latest models from Volvo Cars meet the EuroNCAP specification requirements" says Bertil Forslund from Volvo Bus Corporation. He presented a system of seat belt reminders where the sound gets louder the fastest the car drives. "This system is used within Volvo cars everywhere in Europe and Australia" he added. 
The majority of new sold cars in Sweden (60%) the latest years have been fitted with seatbelt reminders. Also 95% of the cars tested by EuroNCAP which received the best rating of "5 stars" were fitted with such a device at least on the driver's seat. Negative responses from customers to these cars are very rare and mainly concern the intensity and length of the noise. Consumers are however given the possibility to reduce such noise in more and more types of seat belt reminder. Volvo S40 and Citroën C5 are two types of cars which propose seat belt reminders for all seat, including rear ones.
Insurance companies such as Folksam from Sweden have started to propose premiums for cars equipped with seat belt reminders. Other insurance companies have started to follow but are still not moving fast enough.
How can European institutions accelerate acceptance for seat belt reminders?
Dimitrios Theologitis, Head of Unit at the European Commission for Road Safety, stated that "industry and government should work together to convince buyers to invest in safety prior to comfort". By associating the insurance to offer lower premiums to drivers whose cars have seat belt reminders one could further encourage consumers to opt for seat belt reminders.
On another level, what the European Commission would like to see is a clear path for equipping cars with seat belt reminders. Starting first with installation on the driver's seat, the measure could gradually extend to the passenger seat, the rear seats and finally to removable seats. If industry does not propose a clear roadmap, then the Commission will have to come up with legislation.
Lastly the European Commission also suggested that it is time to set priorities among the approximately 10 already existing e-safety measures, by doing cost-benefit analysis and looking into ways, including legislative ones, to accelerate the introduction of the most essential ones. Pushing the idea more concretely Theologitis said: "Once the UNECE technical regulation study on seat belt reminders comes out, it might be the right time for the European Commission to propose a Directive on seat belt reminders".
Conclusion
The seat belt is the single most important safety feature in the car. Nearly everybody is convinced that using a seat belt makes sense. Moving from this stage to the acceptance and installation of seat belt reminders, providing they are done in a customer and user-friendly way, should not be a major difficulty. "After all, people who wear their seat belt from the beginning will not even notice the seat belt reminder signal, whereas in the opposite case people will be helpfully reminded to wear their seat belt" reminds Dieter Koch. Wearing a seat belt reminder directly affects one's own protection. Everyone with a minimum of common sense would wish to take such a precaution to protect themselves. As Dimitrios Theologitis raised during the meeting: "Let's not remain inactive only because a hard-core of 1% refuses to wear a seat belt, relying on god to save them and on their own power. Let's rather focus on helping the majority that simply does not wear seat belts because it lacks a reminder to do so! ".
As Ewa Hedkvist-Petersen so rightly puts it at the end of the debate "The meaning of driving is changing. Safety slowly becomes a necessary condition that qualifies a good car in everybody's mind". And Dieter Koch finally concludes: "The whole sector and stakeholders needs to be associated to that process to take effectively place".
ETSC warmly thanks all sponsors who, through their support, contribute to help ETSC fullfilling its objectives. 
Our thanks go particularly to Volvo Group which gave financial support for the ETSC lunch debates. Thanks to that help ETSC's second lunch was a great success. ETSC maintains its independence through funding from a variety of sources including membership subscriptions, European Commission grants, and public and private sector support for various activities.
