Excessive and inappropriate speed represents about a third of fatal and serious road traffic accidents. Drivers are often unaware of the speed limit or of how fast they are going. A simple in-car device could remind them when they are exceeding the speed limit on roads and in urban areas and caution them in adverse conditions such as road works, bad weather and traffic jams.
The SpeedAlert consortium, consisting of ERTICO, public authorities, industry and the European Commission, believe that in-vehicle speed information and warning systems can increase drivers’s awareness of speed limits, reduce the number of vehicles with inappropriate speed and contribute to achieving the EU target of halving the number of road traffic accident victims by 2010.
On 4 October, a consultation meeting with stakeholders was held at the premises of ERTICO in Brussels to exchange views. The FIA Foundation participated on behalf of the road users supporting speed alert systems in principle but pointing out the need for reliability and good communication and expressing concerns over issues such as liability and protection of private information.
Speed alert systems are purely advisory and the fitting and use of any of the systems would be voluntary ensuring that the driver remains in control of the vehicle. They should not be confused with the Intelligent Speed Adaptation systems (ISA) which often promote more intrusive varieties with varying degrees of control of the vehicle. ISA systems were tested in successful national trial programmes in the nineties in countries such as Sweden, The Netherlands, the UK and France but have not made it to full implementation.
At the meeting, the one-year SpeedAlert project was proposed which was started in May 2004 with the support of the European Commission and which is working on a challenging task: establish a European-wide database on speed limits and other road signs affecting road safety and digital road maps.
The presentations of the consultation meeting will be available soon on the SpeedAlert website www.speedalert.org.
Click here to download the FIA Foundation presentation (PowerPoint) >