New In-Car Camera Systems Become Mandatory for All New Cars Registered in Ireland From Today

From today, 7 July 2026, every new car, van, truck and bus newly registered in Ireland must be fitted with a camera-based system designed to detect when a driver's attention drifts from the road.

The technology, known as Advanced Driver Distraction Warning, or ADDW, has been years in the making under the EU's General Safety Regulation. As Ireland is an EU member state, the regulation applies here as it does across the bloc, meaning any new vehicle being registered from today must have the system built in as standard.

ADDW works through a small camera, usually mounted on the steering column, dashboard or near the rear-view mirror, that tracks the driver's head position and eye direction. It activates automatically once the vehicle reaches 20km/h and runs in both daylight and darkness.

If the system detects that a driver's gaze has strayed from the road for too long, it steps in. Between 20km/h and 50km/h, a warning is triggered after more than six seconds of distraction; above 50km/h, that window shortens to three and a half seconds. Warnings must include a visual alert, combined with a sound, a vibration, or both, depending on how the manufacturer has configured the system.

Crucially for anyone concerned about privacy, the rules are strict on what the camera is and isn't allowed to do. The system is permitted to track where a driver is looking, but it cannot identify who is behind the wheel. Facial recognition and biometric identification are explicitly ruled out, and any data the camera does capture must stay within a closed loop inside the vehicle, processed locally and not transmitted externally, in line with EU data protection law.

The rule only applies to new vehicles being registered from today onwards. Anyone already driving an older car has nothing to worry about, and no retrofitting is required.

According to RAC Drive, Northern Ireland has also adopted these same EU rules, due to an alignment arrangement linked to the Republic of Ireland's EU membership. Great Britain has yet to follow suit, with the UK government saying only that it is examining which of the technologies might be suitable.

Martin Krantz, CEO and Founder of Smart Eye:

"July 7 is a landmark day for road safety in Europe. For Smart Eye, this is a moment we have been working toward for years. Together with our industry peers, we have achieved something significant: driver monitoring is now a required part of vehicle safety across Europe."

The European Commission estimates that driver distraction plays a role in between 10 and 30 per cent of all road crashes across the bloc, making it one of the leading contributory factors on Europe's roads.