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

  • LiuGong 900E excavators “very key” for company future
    January 6, 2017
    A senior LiuGong figure says the company’s keenly awaited 900E Series excavator is a “very key machine” for its future. Dave Beatenbough, vice president of the Chinese construction equipment manufacturing giant’s research and development arm, said production of the model at LiuGong’s Dressta base in Poland was expected to begin “within three months”.
  • LiuGong 900E excavators “very key” for company future
    April 16, 2013
    A senior LiuGong figure says the company’s keenly awaited 900E Series excavator is a “very key machine” for its future. Dave Beatenbough, vice president of the Chinese construction equipment manufacturing giant’s research and development arm, said production of the model at LiuGong’s Dressta base in Poland was expected to begin “within three months”.
  • UK infrastructure at risk
    February 9, 2017
    The entire infrastructure investment programme in the United Kingdom - Europe’s second biggest economy - is at serious risk as the country begins the process of leaving the European Union “During the next five years, GDP Growth in the UK will be half of what it was in the previous five years,” warned Alexander Jan, a director at UK-based infrastructure designer Arup. The value of the currency will continue to crash and “there will be a doubling in the cost of government borrowing”. This is bad news f
  • Slovakia’s major road safety gain
    June 13, 2014
    Slovakia is having major success in cutting road deaths. A report from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) reveals that Slovakia has made the most progress in saving lives since an EU target to halve road deaths by 2020 was set four years ago. Official data shows that 26,025 people died as a result of road crashes in the EU in 2013, while 199,000 were seriously injured. There is concern that the numbers seriously injured in road crashes are not falling at same rate as deaths and there has now been