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New Cars in Europe Will Be Prevented From Speeding

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Drivers in Europe will soon have to get used to anti-speeding devices in their cars, after EU legislators agreed this morning on new legislation requiring them.

The agreement came after months of often tense negotiations which pitted safety against freedom, and prompted concerns over “big brother” watching driving behavior.

The legislation will require all new vehicles put on the market to be equipped with Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology. The devices can use sign-recognition video cameras or GPS-linked data to automatically limit the speed of a vehicle. They do so by limiting the engine power to prevent the vehicle from accelerating past the limit, rather than by throwing on the brakes.

The technology is already fitted in a small number of vehicles on the road, including the new Ford Focus European model. It’s being promoted in Europe by safety organizations such as the European Transport Safety Council – but it has not been embraced in the United States. Many drivers have begun using portable devices which pick up the speed limit data and warn a driver when they are going faster than it allows.

“ISA is probably the single most effective new vehicle safety technology currently available in terms of its life-saving potential,” the organization says. “With mass adoption and use, ISA is expected to reduce collisions by 30% and deaths by 20%.”

However the technology has been controversial with drivers and the organizations that represent them. “Investment and upkeep of our roads are needed for many of these technologies to function at their best,” says Laurianne Krid, director-general of the drivers’ association FIA Region I. “In addition, drivers need to be properly trained to use these new technologies.”

For this reason, legislators from the European Parliament and the 28 national EU governments reached a compromise this morning that would allow drivers to disable the devices if they so choose. FIA says this might be necessary in areas where the speed limit data is incorrect or where there are other problems with the data being sent to the vehicle.

In addition to the concerns about whether the data on Europe’s roads is reliable enough for the devices, there are also more ethereal concerns about whether people really want devices that limit how fast they can drive. Though it would protect them from fines and save lives, some drivers say they are willing to take that risk - trading safety for freedom. Lawmakers say they have received messages from citizens concerned about a “nanny state” EU stopping their freedom to speed.

At a recent conference on the subject in Brussels, one attendee noted that for many people, occasional speeding is part of the joy of driving. Róża Gräfin von Thun und Hohenstein, the lawmaker guiding the legislation through the European Parliament’s internal market and consumer protection committee, told the conference this has made for an emotional debate.

“The discussions in committee have been difficult, there’s even division within political groups, it’s emotional,” she said. “Here we’re dealing with human lives, in the most direct sense of the word. Drivers always worry about freedoms being taken away, they did also with seat belts.”

Lawmakers hope the compromise allowing drivers to disable the devices will alleviate these concerns.

The agreed legislation, expected to get a final rubber-stamp from the European Parliament and national governments next month, will require ISA in all vehicles put on the market from 2022, with pre-existing models forced to comply by 2024.

ISA is just one part in a larger overhaul of the EU's General Safety Regulation, which sets safety parameters for new vehicles. The legislation will also require cars to have other safety features by 2022 including autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warnings, driver drowsiness warnings, driver distraction warnings and an accident data recorder. Many of these technologies are already common in new models.

The legislation will also require truckmakers to make trucks in round designs rather than square ones, to save lives by improving the driver's field of vision.