BBC News - 'Fresh proposals' planned over cyber-monitoring

[Roland Perry]

In article <519E6D76.8060203 at liddicott.com>, Ben Liddicott 
<ben at liddicott.com> writes

>Well the EU have recently mandated that from (2014 I think or maybe 
>2016?) all new cars sold in the EU must have both GPS and mobile 
>network connectivity so that in the event of an accident they can 
>automatically summon the emergency services, just in case the occupants 
>are unable to.
>
>Of course to make a difference all of the following would have to be 
>true:
>a) the occupants are so badly injured that they are unable to summon 
>help.

Or they don't have a working phone within reach.

>b) they are in too remote an area to encounter

Or the incident could have happened in an urban area at 3am with no-one 
else about...

>passers-by who can summon help

(...Not all passers-by have phones, can see into that ditch after dark, 
or even want to get involved, sadly.)

>c) yet paradoxically they close enough to urban centres that the 
>emergency services can arrive before they die of their injuries.

... or on a rural road that was still close enough to emergency services 
(I believe the Ambulance target of 19 minutes for life-threatening calls 
is "irrespective of location").

There are reasons why this may not be the best of proposals (can you say 
which draft Directive it's in, and who is lobbying against it from civil 
society?) but your list above is far too easily dismissed.
-- 
Roland Perry