Skip to main content

Drivers sceptical of EU vehicle control safety benefits, claims IAM research

Three quarters of UK drivers are concerned that the use of Intelligent Speed Adaptations (ISAs) will compromise safety, according to research by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM). Last month, the EU announced that they were considering rules for new cars to be installed with Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) technology. The technology would be capable of detecting limits through cameras or satellites and automatically applying the brakes. Existing vehicles could be forced to be retrofitted with
October 28, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Three quarters of UK drivers are concerned that the use of Intelligent Speed Adaptations (ISAs) will compromise safety, according to research by the 5125 Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).

Last month, the 3287 EU announced that they were considering rules for new cars to be installed with Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) technology. The technology would be capable of detecting limits through cameras or satellites and automatically applying the brakes. Existing vehicles could be forced to be retrofitted with the devices.

The IAM claim that 78% of drivers don’t want to see the retro fitting of ISA technology onto older vehicles.

The UK’s leading road safety charity’s research also found that 57% of drivers felt that ISAs won’t have a positive impact on road safety – avoiding crashes, deaths and injuries.

However, there is overwhelming support for ISAs when vehicle control remains with the driver. Sixty-seven per cent of respondents would prefer ISAs to operate with warning messages with no control of the vehicle.

Respondents do feel that there are some benefits to ISAs. Fifty-two per cent see a reduced likelihood of speeding convictions and less money spent on traffic calming measures such as road humps.

Thirty-one per cent of respondents feel that, if enforced, ISAs should be restricted to younger drivers, newly qualified drivers and drivers with previous road-related convictions.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said, “ISAs could help to save lives but it’s clear that drivers remain dubious about the benefits of the technology.  More research into the benefits would help to reassure the public that this will improve road safety.

”Unfortunately, over a third of respondents see this as a way of controlling drivers, I believe if drivers are trained properly and have access to on-going learning, the government would not need to enforce ISAs.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Concern over decline in Europe’s road safety
    March 31, 2016
    An increase in road fatalities and serious injuries has been recorded for 2015. This has become clear following the publication of the European Commission’s 2015 provisional road safety figures. The data reveals an increase in fatalities compared to the previous year. And even in 2014, there was only a 0.6% reduction, and it had been the first year for some time without a significant drop in deaths and injuries. This stagnation means that the EU is further away from its goal of halving road deaths by 2020.
  • IAM says more action needed to cut UK road casualty numbers
    November 1, 2012
    IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) director Neil Greig said “much more” needed to be done to sustain an encouraging drop in the latest published quarterly road casualty statistics for the UK. The latest Department for Transport figures revealed 400 people were killed in road accidents in Britain between April-June 2012 – down 18% than the 487 killed over the same period of 2011. The total number of casualties was 47,880 between April-June 2012, a fall of 7% on the 51,580 in Q2 2011.
  • Evonik’s top marks for Colombian tourist highway solution
    May 15, 2014
    Leading German road marking product manufacturer Evonik Industries has played a key role in improving safety on a popular Colombian tourist highway, as Guy Woodford reports Bearing the name of the memorable peacemaker governor of Antioquia, the Guillermo Gaviria Correa road, located between the Colombian municipalities of Medellin and San Jerónimo, connects Medellin to the Uraba Gulf part of the Caribbean Sea. In operation since 2007, the road, in combination with the Fernando Gómez Martínez tunnel –
  • Sri Lanka and India have toughened enforcement on drink driving
    January 8, 2013
    The authorities in India and Sri Lanka are targeting drink driving in a bid to cut crashes. Both countries have high road accident levels and with high annual fatality rates. In a bid to reduce the annual death toll, similar actions are being taken in both nations that focus on tackling drink driving. Data from Sri Lanka show that in 2012, there were 2,190 reported road-related fatalities and of these, negligence and drunk-driving were the main causes of crashes. But despite increased enforcement of traffic