Under rules provisionally agreed by the European Union, all new vehicles sold in Europe could be fitted with Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) by 2022. ISA is a speed limiting technology that inhibits a car's speed in compliance with local limits.
Using a combination of cameras and GPS, which detects the speed limit on a road, the technology inhibits engine power, ensuring the drivers do not exceed the limit.
How does speed limiting work?
Source: European Transport Safety Council
The system can be disengaged, though under the new rules it will be operational upon starting a vehicle. ISA can also be temporarily overridden, by pressing the accelerator hard to the floor, for example when overtaking. It has been estimated that universal adoption of the technology across the EU could reduce the bloc's 25,000 annual road fatalities by around 20%.
Several other safety features are to be introduced under the EU's revised General Safety Regulation. Other mandatory systems include cameras or sensors for reversing, lane keeping assistance, warning systems for driver drowsiness or distraction and a 'black box' data recorder, which will be used by police and insurance companies for incident reporting and for understanding how and why collisions take place.
The legislation will also combat drink driving, allowing provisions for retrofitting of an alcohol interlock device, a technology already in use in several EU countries, which tackles repeat drink driving.
New safety features in your car
Source: European Commission
The EU expects the proposals will save lives and prevent at least 140,000 injuries by 2038. The long term goal, under the EU's 'Vision Zero' plan, is to approach zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2050.
“Every year, 25,000 people lose their lives on our roads,” said EU Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Elżbieta Bieńkowska.
“The vast majority of these accidents are caused by human error. We can and must act to change this. With the new advanced safety features that will become mandatory, we can have the same kind of impact as when the safety belts were first introduced. Many of the new features already exist, in particular in high–end vehicles. Now we raise the safety level across the board, and pave the way for connected and automated mobility of the future.”
Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) said of the provisional deal: “There have only been a handful of moments in the last fifty years which could be described as big leaps forward for road safety in Europe. The mandatory introduction of the seat belt was one, and the first EU minimum crash safety standards, agreed in 1998 was another. If last night’s agreement is given the formal green light, it will represent another of those moments, preventing 25,000 deaths within 15 years of coming into force."
The EU provisions are not without their critics. AA president Edmund King said that while he felt there was "a good case" for autonomous emergency braking to be installed in all cars, he had misgivings about the mandatory introduction of ISA saying that the system may ultimately make drivers more, not less, reckless.
"When it comes to intelligent speed adaptation, the case is not so clear," Mr King said. "The best speed limiter is the driver's right foot."
"The right speed is often below the speed limit - for example, outside a school with children about - but with ISA, there may be a temptation to go at the top speed allowed."
"Dodgem cars are all fitted with speed limiters, but they still seem to crash," he added.
The new rules were agreed this week between the European Parliament, the European Commission and representatives of member state governments. The deal is, however, still at a provisional stage and must go through the formal voting process in the European Parliament and by each EU member state; a process that could take several months due to European Parliamentary elections in May.
Read the full text of the provisional legislation here.
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