Speed limiting technology to become mandatory in the UK
You probably don’t need us to tell you that road safety is a massive ongoing issue, not just for us here in the UK, but globally. Recently, the European Commission has taken one of their biggest significant steps recently to try and cut down on road deaths; introducing speed limiting technology for every member state (which, at the moment, includes the UK). So, what’s happening, and how is it going to help?
What’s happening?
Under new rules provisionally agreed by the European Commission, speed limiting technology will become mandatory for all new vehicles by 2022. Now, we know what you’re probably thinking – doesn’t that become irrelevant after the 12th of April? Well, the Department for Transport has said that whatever happens with Brexit, it still plans to implement these rules here in the UK too. Amongst the various safety measures include Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), technology which monitors driver drowsiness and distraction, and an in-built data recorder for every vehicle.
Exactly like the black boxes that certain insurance companies still issue to new drivers, these monitor the driver’s speed so that if they have an accident, it becomes easier to determine whether they were driving recklessly. At the moment, however, most drivers are already up to speed (if you’ll pardon the pun) on how these sorts of devices work – the key new measure currently dominating the announcement is the Intelligent Speed Assistance Technology.
How does Intelligent Speed Assistance work?
Essentially, the system establishes and maintains constant communication between the vehicle itself and a Global Positioning System. The GPS will monitor the location of the car, and send the local speed limit to the dashboard. Cars will also have an in-built camera to read passing speed limit signs, and use that to corroborate what speed they should be travelling, helping the driver stay under the limit. This system can be temporarily overridden if the driver presses hard on the accelerator – say, to move themselves from the path of another driver who hasn’t seen them.
How will these measures help?
UK charity Brake says that speed a contributory factor in about 25% of all fatal crashes, and national statistics say that more than 1700 people are killed on our roads every year. By implementing this technology, the aim for officials is to avoid 140,000 serious injuries by 2038. What’s more, they want to cut road deaths to 0 by 2050. Critics say that last one might be particularly ambitious – even impossible – as even the most cutting-edge technology will struggle to curb one of the primary causes of accidents; simple bad driving. However, even if that particular goal isn’t achieved, cutting hundreds of road deaths a year certainly isn’t something to be dismissed, especially if the technology is as effective as it’s intended to be. Plus, the Association of British Insurers has said that premiums for drivers may be reduced as a result, which may win over some motorists.
We’re certainly in favour of them here at Vision Techniques, having decades of experience in road safety ourselves, we know speed limiters combined with DVR recorders like our VT Record have been used on commercial vehicles for many years. These systems allow fleet managers to use GPS data, fleet tracking and reporting to download or watch live footage of the vehicles journey. This information gives valuable insight into, fuel consumption, speed and mileage data so fleet managers have a more detailed insight into how drivers conduct themselves when on the road.
Much of our industry-leading road safety technology has been developed by our own experts in-house, and just a quick glance at our case studies page can give you a great idea of how many people we’ve helped already. You can browse them right here on our site by clicking the link above, or give our friendly sales team a call on 08452 873 169.