EU proposes health warnings on cars

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Written by Michael Moroney

Wednesday, 03 October 2007

European Union (EU) chiefs are calling for car companies to include warnings similar to those found on packets of cigarettes with their vehicles. A report written by UK MEP Chris Davies, to be debated by the European Parliament this month, says a fifth of car adverts should consist of a kind of health warning for the earth, highlighting cars’ fuel efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions.

It would also be illegal for adverts to boast about cars going faster than the national speed limit. The report takes this speed limit concept a step further and proposes a ban on cars that can do more than 160km/hr (100 mph) which is 25 per cent more than the average upper speed limit altogether.

Only emergency, military and police vehicles would be exempt from the law, which would be introduced in four years’ time.
The report noted that the power of new cars increased by 28 per cent between 1994 and 2004, making them heavier and thus increasing the amount of carbon dioxide produced. This increase is completely unnecessary, the MEP said, as no country had raised its speed limit to allow cars to use that additional power.

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