posted 4 years ago

Drivers Want Cars That Cannot Break Speed Limit

Almost two thirds of drivers would welcome cars that have a built-in anti-speeding system and the government should strive to create them, Brake claims. These conclusions follow a survey.

Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) - the road safety charity explains – would enable a vehicle to recognise it is within, for example, a thirty miles-per-hour zone. Confirmation would come via global positioning satellites and a digital map.

The latter would be updated constantly to account for temporary speed limit changes by roadworks and layout changes.

A system of this nature could come in three forms:

The mandatory system – should a motorist exceed the speed limit – would automatically bring the vehicle back within the law. The motorist would not be able to override it by (say) pressing the throttle very hard or fiddling with buttons on the dashboard. Brake claims that thirty-two percent of its survey respondents would have such a system, “if it was free”.

The voluntary system would automatically slow the car should it break the speed limit, but could be overridden. Thirty-one percent of drivers would have it fitted as a no cost upgrade.

The advisory system would warn the motorist via (say) a beep that he/she is speeding. However, it would not intervene. The driver could then slow manually by lifting the throttle or braking. Twenty-three percent of the survey respondents would be willing – if there was no outlay – to have such technology.

Anti-Speeding System Could Save Lives

The road safety charity says: “This technology could potentially make other speed control measures unnecessary and ensure all drivers comply with speed limits at all times; preventing thousands of needless deaths and injuries”.

Based on controlled trials, it estimates that the mandatory system could cut the death toll by forty-six percent. The voluntary version, in contrast, could reduce fatalities by twenty-one percent, and the advisory by five percent.

Gary Rae, Brake Director of Communications and Campaigns, says the system: “Represents a game-changer for road safety”. He adds: “As speed is at least an aggravating factor in almost all road crashes, this technology could make our roads much safer for everyone, and prevent thousands of senseless casualties every year if rolled out systematically.

Motorists! Do you think your car should be fitted with anti-speeding technology? — Motoring.co.uk (@motoringcouk) November 18, 2015

As yet, there has not been the political will to roll out ISA despite its potential. However, as these results (of the survey) demonstrate the willingness exists among the driving public to use ISA to make speeding on UK roads a thing of the past.”