The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety had joined with other organizations to call for speed-limiting technology in new vehicles to reduce highway fatalities, saying the U.S. is experiencing an epidemic of speeding that has contributed to a spike in road deaths since 2020.
The nonprofit and other members of the Road to Zero Coalition are echoing a recent call by the National Transportation Safety Board to advocate for speed limiters and in-vehicle alerts to curb aggressive driving.
The groups are calling on automakers, regulators and fleet operators to join them in promoting intelligent speed assistance, or ISA, and speed-limiters. The institute says speeding causes more than a quarter of crash deaths each year, or over 12,000 deaths in 2021.
“In-vehicle technologies can be an important part of the solution,” said institute Vice President of Research Jessica Cicchino in a statement.
ISA employs a camera to read posted speed-limit signs or global positioning system mapping to alert drivers if they exceed the limits. Other systems reduce engine power if a speed limit is exceeded.
The coalition of which the institute is a member recommends starting with the alerts. It said the systems will be mandatory for new vehicles in the European Union starting next year. It recommends speed limiters for commercial operators and public fleets, such as buses, some of which it said already use the technology.
It plans to press the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to establish ISA performance standards and require all new vehicles to have it. It also plans to promote ISA and speed limiters for repeat speeding offenders and teenage drivers, who it said are the most likely age group to have been speeding in a crash.
DIG DEEPER: U.S. Agency Recommends Speed Control in New Cars
