In-car LCD screens

10.7.2003

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2422/03
by Kathleen Van Brempt (PSE)
to the Commission

In-car dashboard computer screens are all the rage in Belgium and the Netherlands. For young people, in particular, it is considered cool to install an in-car LCD screen on which to play computer games or DVDs. Such screens are installed in luxury cars in order to guide drivers to their destination as rapidly as possible, and the DVD function cannot operate while the car is being driven. However, the models being installed in car centres are not always equipped with such cut-out devices. In the Netherlands, LCD screens which the driver may watch whilst driving are prohibited because they are too dangerous. That is not yet the case in Belgium.

 

- Is the European Commission aware of the increasing use of LCD screens in cars for entertainment purposes?

 

- What is the Commission’s view of this phenomenon? Does it regard it as a dangerous trend?

 

- What measures is the Commission taking in order to ensure that drivers in cars equipped with LCD screens will drive safely? Is it considering a ban on dashboard LCDs which can be used for playing computer games and watching DVDs?

OJ C 78 E, 27/03/2004