Transport for London has announced trials of the Intelligent Speed Adaptation system within the M25.
A London bus, a taxi and 20 cars driven by road engineers, traffic managers and highway inspectors are taking part in the six-month scheme.
ISA has two settings, advisory and automatic. In advisory, the driver is informed via a dashboard display when they are exceeding the speed limit, whereas in automatic mode the vehicle’s speed is automatically controlled to prevent it exceeding the limit, and will automatically decelerate when the limit drops.
Every road in the UK is mapped with its speed limit, and a satellite tracking device notes where the vehicle is positioned at all times, and the speed limit of the road it is on.
“This innovative technology could help any driver in London avoid the unnecessary penalties of creeping over the speed limit, and at the same time will save lives,” said Chris Lines, head of TfL’s London Road Safety Unit. “We know the technology works, and now we want to know how drivers in all types of vehicles respond to it.”
The results will be published next spring, with Southwark Council interested in fitting ISA to around 300 of its vehicles.
Councillor Jeff Hook, executive member for environment at Southwark Council, said: “This technology could revolutionise the way we keep our roads safer in Southwark, and that’s why we’re really interested in this trial, and if it’s successful we hope to kit out our entire fleet of nearly 300 vehicles as soon as funding allows.”
In January, the Commission for Integrated Transport published a report on ISA. Although in favour of the system, the CIF found significant resistance within the fleet sector. The report said: “The focus group representing the fleet sector “did not believe that exceeding the speed limit necessarily reduced a driver’s safety. Rather they felt that driving at inappropriate speeds increased risk, which ISA itself may not be able to tackle.”
“The overwhelming message from the group was that the safety benefits associated with ISA were questionable.”
But TfL predicts a 10% drop in London road casualties if two-thirds of drivers were using ISA, as well as environmental benefits of the slower speeds.
If the trials are successful, the system could be offered or forced onto bus and taxi operators, and it could be another step towards compulsory application to all vehicles nationwide.
“The AA welcomes these trials which help build the knowledge base and experience to show whether Intelligent Speed Adaptation can cut collisions, delays and pollution, and to check for potential side-effects,” said the AA’s head of road safety Andrew Howard. “The trials will also allow the views of people who have driven vehicles with the equipment to be gathered and better understood.”
