eCall

An eCall button in a VW Golf.

eCall is an automated system for alerting emergency services. It was introduced in 2018. All car manufacturers that sell cars in the European Union have to put it in the cars they sell. The system will automatically alert emergency services by sending a standardized message to the Europe-wide emergency number 112. The message sent includes things like the current position and direction of the car and the time the accident happened. It also includes other information, like two positions of the car, in the last fifteen seconds before the accident. Optionally, it can include things like the number of people in the car, whether the vehicle turned upside down, and other specific information.

Such cars also have a button which can send the message manually.

In 2007, TÜV did some crash tests in Cologne. Unfortunately, they forgot to deactivate the respective alerting system. Soon, ambulances and fire engines arrived, as a major accident had been signalled.