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

  • Safety issues fuel interest at PIARC’s tunnel conference in Lyon
    June 4, 2019
    Alternative fuel and automated vehicle issues occupied minds at PIARC’s first international road tunnel safety conference. David Arminas reports from Lyon More than ever, tunnel management must done in a wholistic fashion, said Andre Broto, president of PIARC, the World Road Association, based in Paris. With those sentiments, Broto kicked off PIARC’s first International Conference on Tunnel Operations and Safety. One of the first speakers, Sandrine Bernabei Chinzi, head of transport infrastructure at Fr
  • Responsive roadsign developed by student
    August 22, 2013
    A UK student hopes his new lenticular road signs which ‘pulse’ at drivers will lead to a revolution in the way motorists are given information on the roads. Meanwhile, a leading road marking firm is helping keep tourists safe in a spiritually significant town in Umbria, Italy. Guy Woodford reports You may think Charles Gale’s vision of creating the first ‘pulsing’ lenticular road sign was the result of months, even years, spent studying traffic and driver behaviour on the roads of his adopted student c
  • Concerns over increased US road fatality rate in 2012
    November 25, 2013
    Data from the US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that highway deaths increased to 33,561 in 2012, an increase of 1,082 over the figures for 2011.The official Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data reveals that the majority of the increase in deaths, some 72%, occurred in the first quarter of 2012. Most of those involved were motorcyclists and pedestrians. This newly released data marks the first increase in road related fatalities in the US
  • Regulating Kenya’s boda boda business
    July 28, 2015
    Kenya’s many motorcycle taxis have an unenviably poor record for road safety - Shem Oirere writes. A state-owned road safety agency in Kenya is grappling with enforcement of new traffic regulations aimed at reducing the number of road accidents involving two-wheeled motorcycle taxis, popularly known as boda boda. The latest statistics indicate that fatalities relating to these vehicles shot up by 58% during the first four months of 2015. Experts have concurred with a previous study by the World Health Or