Car tracking network may be Europe-wide

A pan-European project to track the location, speed and direction of travel of every vehicle has the backing of the British government, car manufacturers and the telecoms industry.

The £36m European Union initiative is intended to reduce road traffic collisions, congestion and carbon emissions and the technology could be installed in all new cars by 2013.

How does car tracking work?

Cooperative Vehicle-Infrastructure Systems (CVIS) could be described as air traffic control for the roads. It uses mobile phone, microwave and infrared technology to allow cars to communicate with each other and a central control centre. It promises to make car journeys safer, quicker and more fuel efficient, but crucially it paves the way for road-user charging and even ‘crash-proof’ cars.

Mazda has already developed an early warning system, which is able to assess road conditions and can apply the brakes automatically if it decides a crash is unavoidable. The CVIS technology could in theory be used to automatically slow or even disable a car should the need arise.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “People will worry that the system heralds the arrival of Big Brother, but our mobile phone handsets already double as a highly-effective means of tracking our movements – everyone agrees that Britain needs a safe, reliable and high-quality transport system and technology that will reduce emissions, beat congestion and ultimately result in cars that drive themselves will feel no more an invasion of our privacy than the ability to send a text.”

What is road-user charging?

This charge is simply a method of charging the motorist for the use of the road.

At present the use of the road network is free. A motorist driving an electric car pays no tax or charge for using the roads – no fuel tax because no petrol is used and no vehicle excise duty because electric vehicles are zero rated. But electric vehicles still use roads and roads are valuable.

Indeed a motorist driving a standard family car pays around £900 a year not for using the roads but for having a vehicle and for using petrol – quite a different thing.

What is the ETA?

The ETA is an organisation providing motorists and cyclists with carbon-neutral breakdown cover and insurance products. As well as encouraging responsible driving to reduce carbon, the ETA campaigns for sustainable transport.