The EU has been proactive in working towards enhanced road safety and mobility of Europeans and their transport sector. In 2019, The General Vehicle Safety Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 provided the legislative framework needed for the protection of European Union (EU) residents against road accidents, poor air quality, and climate change while keeping the European Auto industry competitive in the market. The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) had been promoting the ISA system after a Norwegian study in 2014 found it to be effective against road accidents and deaths.
Starting today, the incorporation of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology has become compulsory for all new car models and vehicles introduced to the EU market. Under the said law, no vehicle without ISA will be sold in the EU after July 2024 deadline.
Basically, the ISA uses the car's cameras to recognize road signs and/or GPS-linked map data, and other methods to check whether the car is driving over the speed limit. In such case, it does not apply brakes automatically. Rather, it warns the driver in several ways, including limiting car speed by decreasing engine power to bring it within stipulated speed limits.
With the availability of hardware on most new vehicles such as GPS, front and rear facing cameras, and manual speed limiting systems, ISA can be easily incorporated by required addition of software.
ISA regulation provides automakers four options for systems feedback to the driver, namely Cascaded acoustic warning, Cascaded vibrating warning, Haptic feedback through the acceleration pedal, and Speed control function.
Cascaded acoustic or vibrating warnings are non-invasive. They provide an optical warning first, and then a delayed acoustic/vibrating warning if no response is received from the driver.
Haptic feedback and speed control work through acceleration pedal restoring force. It can gently push back the driver's foot to make him aware of overspeeding. The driver, however, may override this by pushing the pedal slightly deeper.
The importance of the adoption of automotive safety technologies cannot be over-emphasized. As per ETSC, the ISA system is expected to reduce collisions by 30% and deaths by 20%. Additionally, a drastic reduction in speeding tickets is an added plus for drivers.
A list of cars with ISA installed is also available on ETSC’s ISA page.
Source: ETSC and European Road Safety Charter
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