All new cars sold in Europe required to be equipped with speed limiters from this week

A new European Union Mandate is set to come into force from Sunday July 7th 2024, which means that all new vehicles sold will require a speed limiter.

Although this law will not apply in Britian, it is very likely that most new cars will be affected by the introduction of the technology. This is because the manufacturers are unlikely to modify new vehicle designs for the market here in Britain.

Known as Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA), it is a system that restricts the speed of a vehicle automatically.

It uses a combination of GPS tracking data, satellite navigation, and information on speed limits of that roads that the vehicle is currently on.

If the driver is travelling over the speed limit, the system can reduce engine power until the speed drops to the limit of the road.

The limiters will be included in new vehicles sold in Northern Ireland.

Current regulation allows drivers to turn the speed limiter off, however, the ISA will be enabled when you switch the engine on again.

This means that the ISA cannot be permanently disabled in new cars.

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Originally announced in 2019 by the European Union to create a limiter for new cars sold in member states, the aim is to prevent deaths and injuries on roads across the continent.

The 2019/2044 ISA regulation was written by the European Commission following years of research into improving safety for drivers and other road users.

The European Transport Safety Council has claimed that vehicles using the ISA technology will reduce traffic collisions by 30% and road casualties by 20%.

It features in the EU’s plan to achieve zero road deaths by 2050.

However, the Department for Transport (DfT) have already stated that new cars sold in Great Britain will not be affected for the foreseeable future.

Despite the announcement from DfT, most manufacturers will include them in the vehicles sold in Britain, with major brands such as Ford, Renault, Volvo and Honda all revealing that they are already including a limiter in their range of vehicles.

RAC road safety spokesperson Rod Dennis said: “While it’s not currently mandated that cars sold in the UK have to be fitted with Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) systems, we’d be surprised if manufacturers deliberately excluded the feature from those they sell in the UK as it would add unnecessary cost to production. 

“Anyone getting a new vehicle would be well advised to familiarise themselves with ISA and how it works. In practice, if a driver exceeds the speed limit, an audible warning is sounded and then the car’s speed is automatically reduced. But a driver can still press hard on the accelerator to override it momentarily, for instance to negotiate a hazard in the road ahead.

“But just because a vehicle’s speed can be limited doesn’t mean drivers should accelerate as fast as possible to the speed limit. It’s important to always drive at the right speed for the conditions, whether that’s due to traffic, bad weather or other hazards.”