New EU rule requires cars to have speed limiters – drivers will soon be 'forced' to drive slower
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On Wednesday, new regulations enacted by the European Union went into effect, mandating that speed-limiting systems be installed in all newly manufactured automobiles, vans, and lorries.
A series of initiatives aimed at improving road safety include the requirement that newly released models have Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology.
Newly-introduced cars in the EU are now required to have a system that lets the driver know if they're going too fast. Credit: CarExpert.
What is Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology and how does it work?
ISA (intelligent speed assistance) systems use GPS-linked speed-limit databases and road sign recognition cameras to actively deter drivers from going over the assigned legal speed limit.
When a driver exceeds the speed limit, a fitted system can alert them with a series of cascading acoustic or vibrating warnings, "which have to be as short in duration to avoid the potential annoyance of the driver," either by a quick accelerator pedal feedback or by automatically slowing down the vehicle.
In other words, if you mistakenly exceed the posted speed limit, your car can give you a heads-up so you can reduce your speed before it's too late (and by late, we mean before an officer catches you for a violation!). Pretty cool, huh?
ISA is a part of the so-called "second wave" of active safety measures that are currently being installed in passenger vehicles. These measures make use of cutting-edge technology such as onboard sensors, radar, cameras, GPS, and lasers.
Technology with active safety features can actively assist the driver in lessening the effects of an emergency or even completely prevent accidents from occurring.
To put it simply, they prevent or lessen an accident before impact. That sounds like a good thing, right? Some regular drivers, however, would argue otherwise...
Intelligent speed assistance (ISA) uses camera and map data to determine the speed limit and either alert the driver or slow the vehicle automatically. Credit: European Transport Safety Council.
Speed limiters, according to traffic lawyer Nick Freeman, are "incredibly dangerous" and "a needless distraction," because there are "always circumstances where you need to briefly accelerate."
"Having a device that automatically prevents the driver from being able to escape danger - as well as the freedom to make decisions - is ridiculous," he added.
"People should be allowed to drive. I’m not against safety devices but am against losing overall control."
It is important to point out that the version of ISA that will become compulsory in the European Union in 2022 can be switched off and overridden, if necessary.
The EU emphasises that the safety system must keep the driver in charge, which means it must be easy for a person to turn off at any time, even if the car slows down on its own.
An electronic border for a physical geographic region is called a geofence. Credit: CarExpert.
The reason isn't just safety, but also reducing pollution, which makes you wonder what will happen to unlimited-speed highways, such as Germany’s autobahns, in the long run...
Starting this month, the system will be required for all newly-introduced cars in the EU. however, by July 2024, it will be required on all new cars, regardless of when they were first released.
Because the technology isn't required for already-existing vehicles, there won't be any plans to implement a retrofitting program yet.
There isn't a similar update to the Australian Design Rules yet, but given the policy of steadily raising the bar for safety, it seems inevitable that one day these safety systems will be required here in Australia as well.
Also, given the fact that almost all of the vehicles that are sold here are imported, the technology will undoubtedly make its way Down Under in the coming years.
What are your thoughts, folks? Do you believe that the introduction of these new safety measures will lessen car accidents on Australian roads? Or is it actually a safety concern in itself as suggested by some lawyers? Let us know in the comments below!
A series of initiatives aimed at improving road safety include the requirement that newly released models have Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology.
Newly-introduced cars in the EU are now required to have a system that lets the driver know if they're going too fast. Credit: CarExpert.
What is Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology and how does it work?
ISA (intelligent speed assistance) systems use GPS-linked speed-limit databases and road sign recognition cameras to actively deter drivers from going over the assigned legal speed limit.
When a driver exceeds the speed limit, a fitted system can alert them with a series of cascading acoustic or vibrating warnings, "which have to be as short in duration to avoid the potential annoyance of the driver," either by a quick accelerator pedal feedback or by automatically slowing down the vehicle.
In other words, if you mistakenly exceed the posted speed limit, your car can give you a heads-up so you can reduce your speed before it's too late (and by late, we mean before an officer catches you for a violation!). Pretty cool, huh?
ISA is a part of the so-called "second wave" of active safety measures that are currently being installed in passenger vehicles. These measures make use of cutting-edge technology such as onboard sensors, radar, cameras, GPS, and lasers.
Technology with active safety features can actively assist the driver in lessening the effects of an emergency or even completely prevent accidents from occurring.
To put it simply, they prevent or lessen an accident before impact. That sounds like a good thing, right? Some regular drivers, however, would argue otherwise...
Intelligent speed assistance (ISA) uses camera and map data to determine the speed limit and either alert the driver or slow the vehicle automatically. Credit: European Transport Safety Council.
Speed limiters, according to traffic lawyer Nick Freeman, are "incredibly dangerous" and "a needless distraction," because there are "always circumstances where you need to briefly accelerate."
"Having a device that automatically prevents the driver from being able to escape danger - as well as the freedom to make decisions - is ridiculous," he added.
"People should be allowed to drive. I’m not against safety devices but am against losing overall control."
It is important to point out that the version of ISA that will become compulsory in the European Union in 2022 can be switched off and overridden, if necessary.
The EU emphasises that the safety system must keep the driver in charge, which means it must be easy for a person to turn off at any time, even if the car slows down on its own.
An electronic border for a physical geographic region is called a geofence. Credit: CarExpert.
The reason isn't just safety, but also reducing pollution, which makes you wonder what will happen to unlimited-speed highways, such as Germany’s autobahns, in the long run...
Starting this month, the system will be required for all newly-introduced cars in the EU. however, by July 2024, it will be required on all new cars, regardless of when they were first released.
Because the technology isn't required for already-existing vehicles, there won't be any plans to implement a retrofitting program yet.
There isn't a similar update to the Australian Design Rules yet, but given the policy of steadily raising the bar for safety, it seems inevitable that one day these safety systems will be required here in Australia as well.
Also, given the fact that almost all of the vehicles that are sold here are imported, the technology will undoubtedly make its way Down Under in the coming years.
What are your thoughts, folks? Do you believe that the introduction of these new safety measures will lessen car accidents on Australian roads? Or is it actually a safety concern in itself as suggested by some lawyers? Let us know in the comments below!
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