Liow: All vehicles to have eCall by 2020

BENTONG: All vehicles will be installed with the eCall (emergency call) system by 2020, allowing rapid response in case of an accident, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

“By 2020, all cars will have this sensor. The system will locate the car involved and assistance can be sent immediately,” he said at a ceremony to present muruku at the toll plaza here yesterday.

This, said Liow, was one of the Government’s initiatives to enhance road safety, adding that last year, 7,152 lives were lost to accidents.

The system works by automatically notifying the Malaysian Emergency Response Services – or MERS 999 – with crash data in the shortest possible time during an accident.

The ministry has tabled a presentation on the eCall system to the Cabinet.

Earlier, he described reports that the cost of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project would balloon to RM70bil as mere speculation.

“The cost of ECRL was in accordance to the evaluation of experts and consultants. (This will be) done transparently under the Economic Planning Unit,” he told reporters.

“The Opposition is trying to create an issue out of the project.”

The Government, said Liow, would work closely with its Chinese counterpart in implementing the ECRL in an accountable manner.

A financial weekly recently quoted sources claiming that the cost for the ECRL would balloon to between RM60bil and RM70bil from the current RM55bil.

Liow, who is also Bentong MP, urged residents in the area to make good use of opportunities born of the economic development.