New speed limiters driving law could ‘significantly improve’ and affect all UK cars
Regulation came into effect across Europe on July 6
GETTY
Experts have called for the adoption of speed limiters to become mandatory on all UK vehicles to help create safer travel.
The urgency comes at the same time as the EU begins to adopt and roll out its Vehicle General Safety Regulation.
The regulation was introduced in July 2022, and came into force on July 6, making several important safety features mandatory on all new vehicles.
These include adding advanced emergency braking and intelligent speed assistance to all models.
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Intelligent speed assistance can automatically slow down a vehicle
GETTYThe measures came into force last week across the EU buthave not been made mandatory in the UK.
Although the Department for Transport has commissioned research which looks at the positive and negative impacts that would come if the rules were to be introduced in Great Britain, with an update expected in the near future.
The DfT remains a member of the European New Car Assessment Programme which incentivises many technologies already included in the General Safety Regulation.
If any rules were to change in relation to the new safety features, the DfT stated that it would require consultation and legislation to amend the GB-type approval scheme.
The incorporation of speed limiters in vehicles is estimated to help prevent more than 1,700 deaths and 15,000 serious injuries over the next 16 years.
Now AXA UK, together with the road safety charity Brake and other industry bodies have called on the Government to make them mandatory in the UK.
Alain Zweibrucker, Retail CEO at AXA UK, explained that road crashes claim thousands of lives in the UK every year.
He detailed how the Vehicle General Safety Regulations can help “significantly improve” safety for drivers, passengers and pedestrians alike.
Implementing mandatory vehicle safety features such as Intelligent Speed Assistance and Advanced Emergency Braking can also help prevent crashes and protect road users, he added.
Meanwhile, Ross Moorlock, CEO of Brake, said: “Every single road death or injury is as devastating as the next for the families and communities affected.
"This request to the Secretary of State, to adopt the vehicle General Safety Regulation by updating already existing legislation, is a straightforward, effective way to save hundreds of lives and many thousands of serious injuries from road crashes.”
The intelligent speed assistance can automatically slow down a vehicle if a driver is exceeding the speed limit on UK roads.
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The DfT have been urged to introduce the measure to the UK
GETTYThe technology uses GPS and traffic sign data to issue a warning to drivers when they are going over the speed limit on the road they're travelling on.
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