Speeding on the nation’s roads remains a deadly issue.

Of course, it is not restricted to this country, but anywhere motor transport exists.

However, a new piece of European legislation will likely prove another useful weapon against fast fashion.

Managing speed

All new vehicles sold in the European Union and Northern Ireland will now be fitted with intelligent speed assistance (ISA).

In Britain, the new technology is not mandatory but will likely be fitted to most vehicles.

If the system detects that the speed limit is being broken, it will emit a beep or vibrate the steering wheel.

As a final measure, the accelerator will automatically push back if the driver does not slow down.

 

 

Safety first

According to the European Transport Safety Council, this new in-car technology could reduce collisions by 30% and deaths by 20%.

Around 1,700 road deaths annually could translate to 300 fewer road deaths.

Brexit means the law is not mandatory in the UK.

However, due to the nature of the international motor trade, as many as 90% of new vehicles in Britain could be fitted with the technology.

Manufacturers design vehicles to fit all major markets without significant changes to save money.

Changing attitudes

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, told The Times that the system represents ‘the beginning of the end of that world when people choose their cars based on its top speed and the time it takes to accelerate from 0 to 60mph’.

Adding that ‘the car is going to decide what you can and can’t do’.

However, Simon Morgan of Buchanan Computing and an IHE committee chair raised concerns about the support systems for the ISA.

He said: ‘This technology can only work if the car has a reliable way of determining the speed limit. This is certainly not the case at the moment but might be in a few years with DfT’s D-TRO [digital traffic regulation orders] project.

‘Digital traffic orders (D-TRO) will be a game changer. I support the concept enthusiastically, and we have been advocating them at Buchanan Computing since the 1990s, and achieved them for speed limits for Transport for London covering the whole GLA area over 15 years ago.’

Optional

Drivers can choose to turn the system off.

If they choose to do this, they must do it every time they start the car – it cannot be permanently switched off.

The ISA system is required to work with the driver and not restrict his/her ability to act at any moment while driving.

This means the driver is always in control and can easily override the ISA system.

This is an essential safety feature when overtaking, joining high-speed roads, including motorways, or possibly accelerating out of an emergency situation.

Pedal cars

ISA regulation provides four options for systems feedback to the driver, from which car manufacturers will be free to choose from:

• cascaded acoustic warning
• variable vibrating warning
• haptic feedback through the acceleration pedal
• speed control function

The first two feedback options do not directly intervene but only provide warnings (first optic and, if there is no response from the driver, a delayed acoustic/vibrating warning).

These have to be as short as possible to avoid potential annoyance of the driver.

Other possible feedback relies on the pedal restoring force—it will push the driver’s foot gently back to make the driver aware and help the driver slow down.

Drivers can ignore this feedback and override the system by pushing slightly harder on the acceleration pedal.

Even in the speed control function, where the car speed is automatically gently reduced, the driver can smoothly override the system by pressing the accelerator pedal a little bit deeper.

Machines take over

Yousif Al-Ani, the principal engineer for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) at Thatcham Research, says: “Modern vehicles are very good at protecting occupants in the event of a collision through passive safety features, such as airbag and crumple zones, but these have limited benefit to vulnerable road users” such as pedestrians and cyclists.

The number of road deaths involving a speeding vehicle in Britain has risen faster than the wider toll since Covid, up 20% in 2022 to 303 out of 1,695.

A significant minority of drivers admit to breaking speed limits.

However, the Department for Transport’s observation of free-flowing traffic suggests that the proportions are higher.

According to the RAC’s 2023 report on motoring, 57% of drivers said they broke the 70mph speed limit on motorways.

30mph limits in most urban areas were most likely to be respected, broken by only 40%.

DfT found that on 20mph roads with free-flowing traffic – not residential streets with speed bumps – between 80 and 90% of vehicles flouted the limit.

 

 

The who

A new generation of speed cameras is upping the ante on the enforcement side.

It means it will be increasingly more challenging to disown responsibility.

Lawyers believe those who switch off the speed limiter at the start of their journey may have difficulty if they end up in court.

In addition to the limiter, other ADAS features, including automated lane-keeping and autonomous emergency braking, have also become mandatory on new cars.

Questions remain over whether the technology works well enough in all real-life situations and how comfortable people will feel with their car telling them what to do, let alone taking control of their steering, brakes and acceleration – a potentially alarming and disorienting experience.

Speaking to The Guardian, Yousif Al-Ani says: “Striking a balance between safety, performance and integration to create systems that cooperate with drivers is a real challenge for manufacturers.”

The consensus is that the benefits far outweigh the risks.

More and more drivers are happy to go slower and rely on the technology.

With the rising cost of living focusing minds on the miles per gallon as much as the speed, the joy can be in driving well rather than fast.