EU-style gadgets to stop drivers exceeding speed limit ‘could be mandatory in all new cars in the UK’

EU-style devices designed to prevent drivers from exceeding the speed limit could become mandatory in all new cars in the UK, it has been reported.

Ministers are expected to announce consultations on a range of new vehicle safety measures that would help drivers slow down.

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They will have something called Intelligent Speed ​​Assist (ISA) that relies on GPS tracking and cameras on a car to judge what speed it should be going. The Telegraph reports.

Manufacturers can choose from a range of responses, from alarms to mechanisms that reduce engine power or back off the pedal when the driver exceeds the speed limit.

Drivers can override the system, but the technology is said to be reactivated each time the car is started.

And automakers Citroen, Ford and Jaguar have already started using the technology in some of their cars.

Tory MPs suggested the “Big Brother in your cockpit” proposals were part of an “anti-driver campaign” that sounded “very unconservative”.

And AA President Edmund King warned of chaos on the roads if speed limits change and devices aren’t updated accordingly.

He said: “The speed limits have to be absolutely accurate because the car reacts to the speed limit.

“If you have the wrong speed limit in the digital system, it can slow you down to the wrong speed or allow you to accelerate to the wrong speed.”

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motoring Manufacturers and Traders, welcomed the measures and hoped they would further improve road safety.

He said: “SMMT and its members look forward to contributing to the UK Government’s consultation on how these measures are being introduced in this country.”

However, he added that deviating from EU rules would be bad for the industry.

The EU originally planned to make the stricter ISA system, which shuts off engine power as soon as the speed limit is reached, mandatory.

She watered down the proposals after successful lobbying by automakers.

According to The Telegraph, such a system, which drivers can override by pressing the accelerator pedal, has been shown to reduce road fatalities by up to 20 percent.

And the UK’s Vehicle Certification Agency previously said it would mirror EU regulations on post-Brexit vehicle safety standards.

The Department for Transport said no decisions had been made on what safety rules the UK would follow.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “The UK’s exit from the EU provides us with the platform to benefit from our regulatory freedoms.

“We are currently reviewing the vehicle safety provisions contained in the EU Safety Regulations and will implement requirements that are appropriate for the UK and improve road safety.”

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