Members of European Parliament (MEPs) have passed a resolution whereby all cars in the EU must be upgraded with emergency eCall devices, which automatically alert rescue services in the event of an accident.

MEPS have passed the resolution and urged the European Commission (EC) to table the legislation to make the eCall system mandatory by 2015.

The system will use 112 emergency call technology to alert and inform rescue services, in a bid to reduce time and save lives and the severity of injuries.

eCall is expected to save up to 2,500 lives every year and bring down injury severity by 10% to 15%.

Co-rapporteurs Olga Sehnalova (S&D, CZ) and Dieter-Lebrecht Koch (EPP, DE) said in a joint statement that the European Parliament has given its clear support for all motorists in Europe to benefit from an emergency call system free of charge.

"Since the voluntary approach has failed, we urge the commission to propose legislative measures as soon as possible to ensure the eCall the system will be mandatory in all EU countries by 2015," Sehnalova and Koch added.

MEPs have also proposed the commission to evaluate the services of the eCall system for other vehicles, such as motorcycles, buses, coaches and trucks.

The emergency service will be available for free throughout the Europe.

MEPs have also observed that the required technology for the eCall is available and that common standards across EU have been agreed upon.

The resolution stressed that the service is to improve incident management and should not be used to monitor a person’s movement.