EU Mandates Infrared Eye-Tracking in Every New Car to Curb Distracted Driving
Published on 07/18/2026 at 12:55 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Drivers who glance away from the road for more than 3.5 seconds at speeds above 50 km/h will soon trigger an alarm under new European Union regulations taking effect next year. Starting 7 July 2026, all newly registered passenger cars must be fitted with an advanced driver distraction warning system – known by the acronym ADDW – that uses an infrared camera to monitor where the driver is looking.
The system is designed to prevent crashes caused by inattention. Between 20 and 50 km/h, the warning only sounds if the driver's eyes stray for longer than six seconds. Below 20 km/h, no alert is triggered. Privacy regulators have moved to reassure motorists: no data is stored, and no individual is identified. Drivers can manually switch the system off for each journey, though it reactivates automatically after the car restarts. Tighter requirements are already slated for July 2027.
Alongside the distraction-warning mandate, a suite of other EU vehicle and transport reforms came into force earlier this month. Since 1 July 2026, all vehicles over 2.5 tonnes engaged in cross-border goods transport must be equipped with the latest intelligent tachograph, G2V2. That applies even to existing trucks already on the road. Exceptions cover own-account transport where driving accounts for less than thirty percent of the daily working time. Pure transit through a member state without loading or unloading does not count as cross-border transport.
Digital paperwork is also being streamlined. Starting 5 July 2026, every new vehicle sold in the EU must carry an electronic certificate of conformity (CoC). Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt) now makes these digital proof documents available online via the vehicle identification number – for any car registered since October 2019.
Further traffic-law changes took effect on 1 July. Trading so-called Flensburg points – Germany's penalty-point system for driving offences – is now illegal, with fines of up to €30,000. The statute of limitations for pursuing traffic violations has been standardised at six months across the country. And so-called scan vehicles can now be used for parking enforcement, but any licence-plate data captured from vehicles not committing an offence must be deleted within 24 hours.
Rumours that a mandatory satellite-based speed limiter is on the horizon have been firmly squashed. The European Commission explicitly denied any plan to introduce automatic braking via the Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) system. A Commission spokesperson clarified that no future version of ISA will include an automatic slowing function. Since July 2024, ISA has been obligatory for new cars, but it operates only with visual and acoustic alerts. The false speculation originated after Thatcham Research, a market analyst, pointed out that current ISA systems misread traffic signs roughly one in every four cases.
Despite the tightening regulatory framework, autonomous-driving development continues apace. A Chinese automaker announced in Munich in mid-July that it will roll out a Level 2++ assistance system worldwide in 2027. A leading brake-systems supplier has also presented a redundant braking setup for Level 4 autonomy, due to enter series production the same year.
Meanwhile, Germany’s upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, on 17 July debated a motion aimed at clamping down on "Autoposing" – the practice of deliberately revving engines for attention. The motion calls for new legal norms and technical equipment for noise monitoring. So-called noise cameras, which would automatically fine excessively loud vehicles, currently lack the regulatory approval needed for operational deployment.
Disclaimer regarding our articles: No investment advice, no buy or sell recommendation. Information on prices, companies, and markets is provided without guarantee; changes are possible at any time. Stock market transactions can lead to substantial losses. Our articles are created and reviewed in whole or in part automatically with the support of AI.
