What UK Dealerships Need to Know about the EU’s ‘New Vehicle General Safety Regulation’ (GSR2) 

Brace!  Brace!  Ready or not, new vehicles are going to start coming with a whole lot more tech packed into them.  

In this article, we’re going to look at the EU’s new Vehicle General Safety Regulation (GSR2), Regulation (EU) 2019/2144, which rolled out on 7 July 2024.  While the UK has not adopted these new regulations, they will likely have a significant impact on drivers and dealerships in the UK and beyond.

What is GSR2?

Think of GSR2 as championing a pivotal shift towards vehicles with complex safety technologies—advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)—aimed at reducing accidents and protecting vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists.

As Yousif Al Ani, Principal Engineer for ADAS at Thatcham Research, explains: “Crash avoidance is the future of automotive safety.”  Modern cars have become quite good at protecting occupants when a crash occurs.  But the goal now is to prevent accidents in the first place.  

GSR2 introduces additional new technologies to do just that, and it and makes their inclusion in new vehicles mandatory.

Some of the key advanced systems included in GSR2 are:

• Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) – This system uses traffic sign recognition and map data to warn drivers when they exceed speed limits and automatically adjust the vehicle’s speed.  (Importantly, while this system can, at this point, be disabled, GSR2 requires that such a choice be made on every new drive.)
• Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) – A system that detects potential collisions and applies the brakes to avoid or lessen the severity of an accident.
• Driver Drowsiness and Attention Warning (DDAW) – A monitoring system that detects if the driver is losing focus or becoming drowsy and provides alerts.
• Emergency Lane Keeping System (ELKS) – A system that helps prevent the vehicle from drifting out of its lane or into oncoming traffic.  (Like ISA, this system can be disabled, currently, but only on each new drive.)

These are only some of the many technologies mandated by GSR2.  

The phased implementation of GSR2 introduces further complexity for dealerships. Phase two, which starts in July 2024, will mandate additional ADAS features for existing vehicle models, while phase three in July 2026 will expand the regulation to include more advanced systems like Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW) and additional pedestrian and cyclist protection.

While these regulations do not apply to vehicles built before the cut-off dates, they will affect all new vehicles sold after July 2024. This means that dealerships will need to stay informed about the evolving safety requirements and ensure their customers are aware of what features are included in the vehicles they purchase.

But We’re Not Part of the EU, so Why Does This All Matter?

The UK has yet to adopt GSR2, but it could still do so.  In any event, vehicles sold in the UK are almost certainly going to include these newly mandated systems.  

First, Manufacturers typically standardise their safety technologies across markets, avoiding the complexity and costs of creating UK-specific (or other market-specific) variants.  

Second, Northern Ireland will adopt GSR2 due to the Northern Ireland Protocol. 

The bottom line is that it would likely be difficult for manufacturers to create unique UK-specific variants, so it is very likely that UK drivers will see vehicles with GSR2-compliant systems, even though the regulations are not mandatory here.

What the New Technologies Might Mean for Dealerships

While the safety systems mandated by GSR2 offer enhanced safety, they also bring new challenges, particularly when it comes to customer concerns about vehicle faults. 

Many of these systems, such as Intelligent Speed Assist and Autonomous Emergency Braking, are highly technical and may initially confuse or frustrate some customers. Dealerships will be tasked with explaining how these features work, addressing any concerns drivers may have, and offering guidance on how to manage and override systems when necessary (and possible).  Some customers are likely to struggle at times to understand these systems and view them as a benefit rather than a burden.

This means that these new technologies come with an increased likelihood that consumers will perceive faults or experience issues with the systems. In some cases, these perceptions may be well-founded, as more complicated technology means a greater possibility for malfunctions or incorrect operation. In other cases, what consumers perceive as faults may simply be a misunderstanding of how the technology is designed to function.

For example, an Intelligent Speed Assist system may sometimes display incorrect speed limits due to outdated map data or difficulty recognising temporary road signs, particularly in areas with roadworks. Similarly, Autonomous Emergency Braking systems can activate unexpectedly in wide-open spaces where there are no visible obstacles, causing confusion or frustration for drivers. These types of issues can lead to complaints and warranty claims from customers who feel that their vehicle is not performing as expected.

For dealerships, this means that service departments will likely see an increase in customer concerns about ADAS-related issues. It will be important for service technicians to be well-trained in diagnosing and explaining these advanced systems, as many issues may be rooted in customer misunderstanding rather than actual mechanical faults. Proper customer education and after-sales support will be crucial to managing complaints and maintaining customer satisfaction.

More Opportunities for Service Claims

As these new technologies become more common, dealerships and their legal teams should be prepared to see an increase in consumer claims related not only to vehicle faults but also to services. The complexity of ADAS features, along with the potential for glitches or misinterpretation of how the systems work, generates more opportunities for consumers to maintain that they were misinformed about how these systems function.

To this point, most sales team members have had to only worry about quality issues or making sure that they describe a vehicle appropriately.  Service claims have mostly been limited to repairs.  But this new era of complicated ADAS features may bring with it more claims that sales team members have failed to explain key technologies or have incorrectly explained them, leading to consumer confusion and error.

Conclusion: Navigating the New Safety Landscape

As the motor industry moves toward more advanced safety technologies, UK dealerships are uniquely positioned to guide customers through this transition. While the UK may not have officially adopted GSR2, many vehicles sold in the UK will include these features, driven by EU regulations and consumer demand for safer cars.

However, with new technology comes new challenges, particularly when it comes to perceived faults and the potential for customer claims. Dealerships must be proactive in educating their customers about how these systems work, addressing concerns about malfunctions, and providing robust after-sales support. By doing so, they can not only manage potential risks but also position themselves as leaders in the new era of automotive safety.

At MILS, we stand ready to help our members successfully navigate this evolving safety landscape so that dealerships can maintain customer satisfaction and trust while they also avoid unreasonable liability for consumer misunderstandings.