The absurdity of European regulation

For a long time now, we have been told repeatedly that we must save fuel – for the environment, for the climate, etc. I think this is a good thing, if only for my wallet. One litre more or less per 100 kilometres can quickly change the cost by €5-10 on a full tank, depending on the type of car and the current price of fuel. Over a year, that’s enough to treat yourself to a few nice meals out.

But the very people who are encouraging us to save fuel – the European Union – are at the same time preventing us from doing so.

Let me explain. I already own my third car equipped with different driving modes: Normal, Sport, Eco and Snow/Ice. Eco mode shifts up earlier (automatic transmission), disengages when the car is coasting and then idles without consuming fuel. But I can’t save this mode in my settings. Every time I turn the engine off and restart it, I must reactivate Eco mode. When I asked the salesperson about this, they told me it was a ‘European’ requirement: the car must start in normal mode.

On my current car, I can activate the mode using a rotary switch, whereas on my previous two cars, I had to press the touchscreen four times to access the menu and change the settings. It was quite tedious, and, for the sake of convenience, I didn’t always do it. With the Snow/Ice programme, I even find it dangerous not to activate the programme just because it is too complicated.

Sorry, but how can such an absurd rule be imposed? And what is the point of it? If drivers are given the option of using different programmes, they should also be given the choice of using them as they wish. The air conditioning retains its settings, the radio stays on the same station after restarting, and the electrically adjustable seat retains its position – so why not the driving programme?

Technically, this shouldn’t be a problem with all the electronics that cars are equipped with today. It all depends on the opinion of a few European officials. These people drive around in big cars and couldn’t care less about fuel consumption. But they have the right to dictate to the ‘people’ what they should and shouldn’t do, as well as when, how and where.