Speed limiters mandatory on all vehicles in UK by 2022!

New legislation provisionally agreed by the EU means that speed limiters will become mandatory for all vehicles sold in Europe from 2022, Vansdirect reveals all!

Mandatory Speed Limiters

In an attempt by campaigners to transform road safety, all vehicles in the European Union would be fitted with a system which restricts them from breaking the speed limit. You may be thinking that this won't apply to the UK if/when they leave the EU as a result of Brexit, however the Department for Transport (DfT) have revealed that the UK will follow suit even after withdrawing from the EU.

After being approved by the European Commission the new mandatory speed limiting technology named 'Intelligent Speed Assistance' (ISA) could be fitted to all new cars and vans as soon as the next three years. The body which supports the introduction of ISAs, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) believes that the limiters would reduce collisions by as much as 30% and could save approximately 25,000 lives within 15 years of being introduced.

How will ISAs operate?

The ETSC have revealed that the speed limiters will operate by using "speed sign-recognition camera and/or GPS-linked speed limit data to advise drivers of the current speed limit and automatically limit the speed of the vehicle as needed. ISA systems do not automatically apply the brakes, but simply limit engine power preventing the vehicle from accelerating past the current speed limit unless overridden."

Overriding the system

To make the introduction of mandatory speed limiters more popular at first, ETSC have proposed an on/off switch to be included, which would allow the system to be overridden by pushing hard on the accelerator. This override of the system would allow motorists to speed up if circumstances require it and may mean that stricter rules could be introduced in the future.

Data loggers

With an override of the system available, the ETSC also suggested 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."

All new cars and vans would also be equipped with data loggers so that the system is tracked under ETSC recommendations.

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