Speeding is one of the biggest problems on our roads. Over a quarter of all fatal road accidents are caused by speeding, but what if there was a way to cut this out entirely?
Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) was introduced as mandatory for new car manufacturers earlier this year across the EU, a regulation that has been compared to laws making the wearing of seatbelts compulsory in terms of their effect on driver, passenger, and pedestrian safety.
The introduction of ISA as standard means that manufacturers are required to fit at least one of four alerts, with increasing levels of effect on the speed of the vehicle, with many manufacturers choosing to include multiple of these to reduce the damaging effects of speeding.
What are these options for manufacturers?
The first two, and least intrusive of the set, is through cameras checking road signs, or more likely GPS, checking for speed limits and making sounds or vibrations to alert the driver if they are exceeding the speed limit in the area.
The more intense, but potentially more effective methods involve the actual acceleration pedal itself.
Haptic feedback is a technique that relies on a similar method to the previous warnings, collecting speed limits from street signs or GPS information. However, in this situation the accelerator pedal will push back if you breach the speed limit. The most radical of these is the speed control function. This completely cuts the inputs from the accelerator once you reach the limit.
But are these foolproof?
Forcing your car to slow down could lead to problems with other drivers that don’t have vehicles with ISA fitted, with forced slow-down times being quicker and potentially leading to more collisions.
Weather and terrain inconsistencies could also cause the ISA to believe the car is going faster than it is, meaning that already dangerous conditions could be made even more threatening.
Whilst there is the option to turn these features off, which could deal with at least some of the above problems, it would completely nullify the positive effects of these features. With the possibility of people also forgetting when they’ve turned features off, this solution is far from perfect.
What does this mean for you and your business?
If you provide cars to your employees, speeding can be a serious issue. Not only can it rack up expensive fines, but it can put both your vehicles and your employees in jeopardy, even if someone else is the one speeding. Therefore, if ISA can be made to work perfectly, then its introduction should be a real no-brainer.
What does the future hold for ISA?
A lot of different ideas have been thrown around surrounding automatic anti-speeding technology, with the potential ramifications being huge on road safety.
One idea – that has already begun to be introduced – is the potential for assessing where pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles are and stopping the vehicle in its tracks when a collision is imminent, another innovation that could help to save lives.
With driverless cars getting further away from science-fiction, and closer to a day-to-day reality, this technology really is the future of motoring.
Is it about time the UK brought in similar regulations?
If this article has made you want to investigate your options surrounding ISAs, or you have any other questions, pop in and see us. We’ll give you honest impartial advice.
Learn more about how we can help by calling 0333 006 3825 or emailing sales@find-and-finance.co.uk.