speed regulators could become a mandatory instalment in three years time

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) first proposed that all new cars are fitted with mandatory speed limiters, called ISA’s (Intelligent Speed Assistance) in 2016. Now, after a vote by Members of European Parliament, the proposal has been approved. Within as little as 3 years time, a number of safety features including ISA’s, data logged black boxes, automatic braking assists and lane keeping technology could all become a legal requirement for new cars. This proposed ruling is hoped to dramatically improve road safety for all users, reducing collisions by up to 30% and preventing around 25,000 road deaths in the next 15 years.

The ISA’s work by using recognition technology to retrieve information about the speed limits on different roads. If there aren’t any visible signs on the road displaying a speed limit, then it will use GPS data to determine the limit. With this information, the ISA will be able to regulate the engine power of your car in accordance with the speed limit, although the driver can override this by accelerating harder, which would be necessary for certain situations such as emergencies or overtaking. A visual and audial warning will come on if the driver continues to drive the vehicle above the speed limit after overriding the system, which will only go off once the driver has reached the correct speed.

Despite the UK’s scheduled departure from the European Union this month, it is highly likely that these regulations will still apply to cars made in or for the UK markets too. The UK’s Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) has said that it will continue to adopt EU legislation after Brexit and so we can expect that in the next 3 years, all new cars will contain speed-limiting features. To find out what consequences a no-deal Brexit could incur for the UK car market and car buyers, read our blog post here.