Former Yorkshire & the Humber Euro MP, Diana Wallis, received the Outstanding Political Initiative Award this yesterday in Riga at the 112 Awards Ceremony for her work in promoting Europe’s emergency number 112.

Diana Wallis, who has long campaigned for greater awareness of the Europe wide emergency number in the UK where knowledge is amongst the lowest in Europe, is to receive the award under the Category of Outstanding Political Initiative. The award is amongst several presented by the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) in Riga on Wednesday.

In 2011, Diana Wallis launched a campaign, enlisting the support of the different airlines and ferry companies routing from the UK to continental Europe, asking them to inform their passengers about the 112 number. By Easter 2011 Diana Wallis was joined by companies such as Easyjet, P&O Ferries, British Airways, BMI, Thomson, Iberia and DFDS who in different ways have promoted the number when they didn’t before. This includes pieces in in-flight magazines, in flight announcements, details printed on tickets and other initiatives.

Olivier Paul-Morandini, President and Founder of the EENA, commented:
“We are delighted to reward Diana Wallis who deserves our full recognition for her initiatives which will contribute to making our everyday life safer”.

Diana Wallis, a Member of the European Parliament for twelve and a half years, said:

“Obviously I am delighted to receive this award but I am more delighted that it is an indication of the support UK carriers have shown over the past year in raising awareness for the 112 number”.

Note:

112 is the common emergency telephone number that can be dialled free of charge from any telephone or any mobile phone in any country in order to reach emergency services in the EU.

European Emergency Number Association : www.eena.org

Future: The Ford B-MAX (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

A new Ford vehicle unveiled in Barcelona on Monday is the first in Europe to feature voice-operated connectivity.

Its onboard computer system – called SYNC – can read out incoming text messages and connect to digital music players, allowing drivers to choose songs by simply saying them out loud.

The system has already been rolled out on more than 4million cars in the US, but now Ford hopes to have the technology fitted on 3.5million of its new B-MAX vehicles by 2015.

Another feature of the advanced computer system is the emergency call.Whenever an airbag activates or the car’s emergency fuel pump shuts off, a call to 999 will automatically be made from the driver’s mobile phone.

The European Emergency Number Association helped to develop the technology – in several different languages.

EENA’s executive director Gary Machado said he was ‘confident the technology would contribute to saving lives in Europe’.

Ford’s Paul Mascarenas said the voice-activated system will come ‘without requiring a subscription or registration, unlike competitor systems’.

The Ford B-MAX – the company’s first new UK car since 2008 – will go on sale later this year.