A new driving law came into force this month across Europe, and the UK is likely to adopt it.
Since July 6, speed limiters are legally required to be fitted on all cars in Europe, and since the UK has retained most EU laws for new cars, it is expected the UK will confirm to adopt the same rule. This is due to the fact that it's unlikely that EU-based manufacturers would make vehicles with additional different specifications just for the UK.
Confused.com add: "Vehicle Certification Agency will continue to follow EU regulations. This means that even though the UK has left the EU, speed limiters will still need to be fitted to new cars."
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Speed limiters are safety devices that can be fitted to vehicles and are designed to improve road safety. They use sophisticated Speed Assistance (ISA) technology, which works by using GPS data and traffic cameras to calculate speeds.
As North Wales Live reports, the system signals to the driver to tell them to reduce their speed if their vehicle starts to exceed speed limits on a particular stretch of road. If drivers don’t act on those warnings, the technology can even reduce the vehicle's engine power to automatically slow down their vehicle.
Currently by law in the UK, a speed limiter must be fitted on:
- Vehicles with more than 8 passenger seats, eg buses, minibuses, coaches, stretch limousines.
- Goods vehicles with a maximum laden weight of more than 3.5 tonnes.
What do you think of speed limiters? Are they a good move? Have your say in the comments below.
Graham Conway, managing director of Select Car Leasing, said: “Currently, there are around 2,000 deaths from car accidents per year in the UK, and this new law will hopefully see a significant decline in those figures. The changes could help save more than 25,000 lives and avoid at least 140,000 serious injuries by 2038.
“We welcome anything that improves the safety of road users. However, speed limiter technology shouldn’t be the only thing road users rely on to maintain a safe speed. It’s vital to still pay attention to their surroundings and drive according to the conditions, and don’t simply rely on a speed limiter to keep yourself, and other road users, safe.”
Under the new EU regulations, ISA will work by default, although for now drivers can still switch off the system before starting each journey. They can also turn the alert to an acoustic and vibrating warning, as well as “haptic feedback” – touch sensations – via the accelerator pedal. Motoring experts expect fully automated speed controls are inevitable in the future.
Critics have claimed ISA systems could be dangerous if they don’t allow motorists to accelerate quickly to avoid unexpected road hazards. The EU has rejected the claims, as speed limiters can be overridden by pressing hard on the accelerator. This allows the car to go above the permitted speed for a short time before ISA re-engages.
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