Europe begins making speed prevention technology mandatory for new cars

Drivers who enjoy speeding on Germany's autobahns and other European highways should be prepared for urgings to slow down from a group of backseat electronic drivers called Intelligent Speed ​​Assistance (ISA).

Starting Monday, all new cars sold in Europe will be required to have ISA systems, according to a European Commission directive on road safety. The move comes two years after the European Commission made ISA mandatory for all new cars introduced on the continent.

Reducing speeds has become a priority on both sides of the Atlantic as a way to improve road safety and reduce traffic deaths and injuries.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, speeding caused more than 12,000 traffic fatalities in the U.S. in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available.

“Drivers are increasingly aware of the need to curb speeding. This change in public perception is significant. Over the past few years, drivers have become more aware of the capabilities and benefits of their vehicle's advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The ISA system represents a promising advancement in ADAS technology for the near future,” Stuart Ryan, general manager of the Americas at HERE Technologies, said in an email.

HERE Technologies is a global location data services company that is heavily involved in ISA compliance in the European Union and has a strong presence in the U.S. with over 70 automotive brands from over 100 automakers using HERE data for their ISA solutions.

Ryan said the European Transport Safety Board reports that ISA is expected to reduce crashes by 30 percent and fatalities by 20 percent.

ISAs can take the form of a variety of reminders, warnings, or actions, including:

Cascading acoustic warning

Cascading vibration warning

– Haptic feedback via accelerator pedal

Speed ​​control function that makes it easier to step on the accelerator

Drivers seem to have a love/hate relationship with ISA systems.

More than 60% of drivers surveyed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said they would be okay with an audio or visual signal when they exceeded the speed limit.

In the same survey released last month, more than 80% of 1,802 drivers who responded agreed or strongly agreed that they would like the ability to see the current speed limit, and more than 70% said they would prefer an “annoying sound” warning over technology that automatically adjusts speeds when exceeding the limit.

HERE Technology's system aims to recognise speed limits more accurately.

“HERE ISA maps complement and overcome the limitations of camera-only sign recognition systems,” Ryan explains. “Many road rules and regulations aren't signposted at all. Various signs show speed limits that may not be visible to cameras or may be obscured by weather. With HERE ISA maps, the ISA system knows the speed limit for your current location, no matter what the signs say.”

But technology, whether it be ISA or wider advanced driver assistance systems, is a double-edged sword, particularly when it comes to insurance premiums.

Indeed, insurance rates for some vehicles equipped with ADAS or ISA have risen by around 4% year-over-year, according to Chase Gardner, data insights manager at online insurance marketplace Insurify.

“The average American pays about $191 a month for full coverage insurance, and if they have a speeding record, they'll pay 16 percent more, or about $220 a month,” Gardner said in an interview. “Conversely, if an ISA helps them avoid an accident or a speeding ticket, it could save them money on their premiums.”

The prospect that ISA could lead to lower insurance premiums resonated with drivers in the IIHS survey, with nearly 70% of drivers saying they would want ISA on their next car if insurers lowered their premiums based on evidence that they weren't speeding.

So that brings us back to the notion that an electronic backseat driver might persuade the driver to slow down or take other safety precautions: No one likes having a human backseat driver, and there is evidence that some drivers are not happy with electronic drivers.

The 2024 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, released last week, looked at issues reported by vehicle owners in the first 90 days after purchase and found that “advanced driver assistance systems designed to save lives and reduce injuries are frustrating vehicle owners with inaccurate and nuisance warnings from rear cross-traffic alerts and reverse automatic emergency braking features.”

This coincides with what Insurify's Gardner observed.

“I think, at least in the U.S., there's a mix of attitudes toward each of these features,” he said. “Obviously, people want to be safe, they drive safely, and they want these features to protect them, but I also think there are a lot of people who find these features to be a real nuisance.”

The ISA obligations, which came into force in the EU on Monday, are considerably stricter, requiring the warning to begin when the vehicle's speed matches the posted speed limit for six seconds, and after 1.5 seconds if the vehicle goes any further than the posted speed limit.

The IIHS study found that if the US adopted the same standard, frequent speeders were 20% less likely to accept ISA than occasional or rare speeders, suggesting that more drivers would turn it off, suggesting that those who need it most may use it the least.

What form speed warnings take is up to each automaker, and drivers have the option to disable them, Ryan noted.

“But crucially, it informs drivers of the speed limit and warns them when they are going too fast,” says Ryan. “Our goal is to ensure the safe use of ISA technology as it is deployed more widely around the world. To achieve this, we are working to ensure that our solution provides more accurate data on the location of variable speed limit signs, as well as access to specific speed limit data for commercial vehicles.”