New cars sold in the UK will be fitted with mandatory speed limiters from 2022, after the Department for Transport confirmed it will follow a ruling from the European Commission on safety technology, regardless of whether the UK is in the European Union.

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The limiters, dubbed Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), use traffic-sign-recognition cameras and/or GPS data to determine the speed limit in a particular area, automatically limiting engine power and a vehicle’s speed to the prevailing limit if the driver does not slow down to the limit themselves.

The ETSC only recommends a “full on/off switch” for the limiters should be included “to aid public acceptance at introduction”, indicating it intends to push for even stricter rules in the future. While it would be possible to override the ISA by pushing hard on the accelerator, the system would be activated every time the car is started.

The ETSC’s recommendations also stipulate that “If the driver continues to drive above the speed limit for several seconds, the system should sound a warning for a few seconds and display a visual warning until the vehicle is operating at or below the speed limit again.” Once the car returns to or below the speed limit, the limiter would automatically reactivate.