Mandated Anti-Speeding Tech For New Vehicles Begins In Europe

Motorists who enjoy speeding along Germany’s Autobahn or other European high-speed roads should be prepared to be encouraged to slow down by a group of electronic backseat drivers known as intelligent speed assistance or ISA.

Starting Monday, every new vehicle sold in Europe must be equipped with an ISA system., according to a directive by European Commission’s European Road Safety Charter. The move comes two years after the body made ISA mandatory for new models/types of vehicles introduced on the continent.

Reducing speed has become a priority on both sides of the Atlantic as a means of improving road safety and reducing traffic accident fatalities and injuries.

Speeding accounted for more than 12,000 traffic deaths in the U.S. in 2022, the latest year for which data is available, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“There is a growing recognition among drivers for the need to curb speeding. This shift in public perception is critical. During the past few years, drivers have become more aware of the capabilities and benefits of vehicle advanced driver-assistance systems or ADAS. ISA systems represent a promising near-term advancement in ADAS technology,” said Stuart Ryan, General Manager, Americas Region, HERE Technologies in an email conducted by email.

HERE Technologies is a global location data service company that is heavily involved in ISA compliance in the European Union and has a large presence in the U.S. with more than 70 vehicle brands from more than 30 automakers using HERE data for their ISA solutions.

The European Transport Safety Council has reported that ISA is expected to reduce collisions by 30% and deaths by 20% according to Ryan.

ISA can take the form of several different reminders, warnings or actions that include:

· Cascaded acoustic warnings

· Cascaded vibrating warnings

· Haptic feedback through the accelerator pedal

· Speed control function which can make it more difficult to depress the accelerator

Drivers appear to have a like/hate relationship with ISA systems.

More than 60% of drivers surveyed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said they would find it acceptable if audible or visual signals were triggered when they exceeded the speed limit.

In that same survey released last month more than 80% of the 1,802 drivers responding agreed, or strongly agreed, they would like a feature showing the current speed limit and more than 70% said they preferred an “obtrusive tone” warning over technology that automatically adjusted their speed when they exceeded the limit.

HERE Technology’s system is aimed at better recognition of speed limits.

“The HERE ISA Map compliments and overcomes the limitations of camera-only sign recognition systems,” explained Ryan. “Many road rules and regulations are not signposted at all. Various signs imply speed limits that cameras may not recognize or are obfuscated by weather conditions. With HERE ISA Map, the ISA system knows the speed limit for the current location, whatever the signage.”

Technology, whether it’s ISA or broader advanced driver assistance systems, is a double-edged sword, however, specifically, when it comes to insurance costs.

Indeed, premiums for policies on some vehicles packed with ADAS and ISA crept up by about 4% from one year to the next, according to Chase Gardner, data insights manager at online insurance marketplace Insurify.

“The average American is paying about $191 per month for full coverage insurance, and if you have a speeding ticket on record you’re going to pay upwards of 16% more per month, which is about $220,”said Gardner in an interview. “On the flip side, if ISA prevents you from getting into an accident, or speeding it can also save you on insurance.”

The prospect of ISA leading to lower insurance premiums resonated with drivers in the IIHS survey where around 70% of agreed they would want ISA in their next car if their insurance company lowered their premiums based on evidence that they don’t speed.

Which takes us back to the concept of an electronic backseat driver attempting to cajole drivers into slowing down or taking any other safety measures. No one likes a human backseat driver and there’s evidence some drivers aren’t thrilled with electronic ones either.

In the 2024 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study released last week looking at problems reported by vehicle owners during the first 90 days of ownership “advanced driver assistance systems, intended to save lives and reduce injuries, are irritating vehicle owners with inaccurate and annoying alerts from rear cross traffic warning and reverse automatic emergency braking features.”

That squares with what Insurify’s Gardner has observed.

“I think there’s certainly, at least in the U.S., kind of a mixed attitude towards each feature,” he noted. “People, of course, want to be safe and they want to drive safe and have these features to protect them. But on the other hand, I think a lot of people find they can be really annoying.”

The ISA mandate that went into effect Monday in the EU is fairly strict, requiring warnings to start when the vehicle speed matches the speed limit for six seconds and after 1.5 seconds when the vehicle exceeds the posted limit by any amount.

The IIHS survey suggested that if the U.S. adopted the same standard, more drivers would switch off the feature citing frequent speeders were 20% less likely to accept ISA than occasional or rare speeders, implying those who need it most might use it the least.

What form the speeding alert takes is up to each automaker and drivers do have the option of disabling those alerts, notes Ryan.

“But the important thing is that they are informed of the speed limit and warned if they go too fast,” Ryan said. “Our goal is to ensure the safe use of ISA technology as this continues to be more widely implemented across the globe. To achieve this, we’re working to ensure our solutions provide access to more accurate data on the locations of variable speed limit signs, as well as specific speed limit data for commercial vehicles.”