See the Golf R, VW's most powerful Golf ever This Mini Cooper is built to race. No, really Review: The Ghost is more modest and simple, but it's still a Rolls-Royce The McLaren Artura is an electric hybrid with the speed of a supercar These tiny cars are cute and easy to park. Will anyone want them? See the new all-electric EQS luxury sedan from Mercedes (CNN Busines) — New cars sold in Europe from 2022 will have to be fitted with systems to limit their speed. Under new safety rules agreed by the European Union, all new vehicles are required to have “intelligent speed assistance” systems as standard equipment. The EU rules don’t mandate specific technology for the systems, which can be temporarily overridden by the driver. Some carmakers have already developed ways of using GPS or cameras to detect posted speed limits and make sure vehicles adhere to them. European Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska said in a statement that 25,000 people are killed each year on European roads, with the vast majority of accidents being caused by human error. “With the new advanced safety features that will become mandatory, we can have the same kind of impact as when the safety belts were first introduced,” she said. The rules, which also mandate crash data recorders and reversing cameras, were hailed by safety advocates. But others raised concerns over the risk of drivers becoming complacent and less focused on the road conditions. The European Automotive Manufacturers Association also has concerns about the technology. It warned last year of “many infrastructure-related issues holding back its widespread application.” It said that road signs are not standardized across Europe, making speed limits difficult to detect. Digital maps lack speed limit information for many roads, and the data is not always current. “That is why intelligent speed assistance systems should be introduced gradually in cars to provide enough time to update our infrastructure,” it said in December. Intelligent speed assistance systems don’t automatically apply the brakes when a car is going too fast. Instead, they limit engine power to keep vehicles to the speed limit unless overridden by the driver. Some European automakers see an advantage in limiting speeds. Volvo, which is owned by China’s Geely, said earlier this month that it would its stop cars from going faster than 180 kilometers per hour (112 miles per hour). It said it is also considering other technology that could put stricter speed limits on cars driving near schools and hospitals. “We want to start a conversation about whether car makers have the right or maybe even an obligation to install technology in cars that changes their driver’s behavior,” Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson said at the time. The EU rules must now be formally approved by member states and the European Parliament. Lianne Kolirin contributed reporting.<doc-sep>To improve road safety, “you can design roads in certain ways to limit speed, enforce speed limits and use vehicle technology,” Dudley Curtis, a spokesman for the European Transport Safety Council, said in an interview on Wednesday. He said the newly proposed rules were just one aspect of improving safety. Mr. Curtis also noted that this was not new technology that would be imposed by the European Union: Some carmakers have already been selling new models fitted with it. The latest Ford models available in Europe have a system that, when enabled, uses a camera to recognize traffic signs and set the maximum speed according to local limits. Volvo Cars said this month that starting in 2020 it would limit top speed on all its cars at 112 miles per hour. It cited data from American regulators showing that 25 percent of traffic deaths in the United States in 2017 had been caused by speeding. “As humans, we all understand the dangers with snakes, spiders and heights. With speeds, not so much,” Jan Ivarsson, a safety expert with Volvo Cars, said in a statement earlier this month. “People often drive too fast in a given traffic situation and have poor speed adaptation in relation to that traffic situation and their own capabilities as a driver.” Despite European Union-wide safety rules, inequalities between member states persist. According to bloc statistics, death rates on roads were more than twice as high in Bulgaria and Romania, among the bloc’s poorest members, compared with some of the wealthiest nations, including Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden. “One of the factors that divides Europe is an economic one,” said Mr. Curtis of the safety council. “Newer cars come to the richer countries first. There are also issues to do with infrastructure.” Romania, for example, has few highways, which are generally considered among the safest areas of road transport.<doc-sep>Road safety: UK set to adopt vehicle speed limiters Published 27 March 2019 comments Comments image copyright PA Speed limiting technology looks set to become mandatory for all vehicles sold in Europe from 2022, after new rules were provisionally agreed by the EU. The Department for Transport said the system would also apply in the UK, despite Brexit. Campaigners welcomed the move, saying it would save thousands of lives. Road safety charity Brake called it a "landmark day", but the AA said "a little speed" helped with overtaking or joining motorways. Safety measures approved by the European Commission included intelligent speed assistance (ISA), advanced emergency braking and lane-keeping technology. The EU says the plan could help avoid 140,000 serious injuries by 2038 and aims ultimately to cut road deaths to zero by 2050. EU Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said: "Every year, 25,000 people lose their lives on our roads. The vast majority of these accidents are caused by human error. "With the new advanced safety features that will become mandatory, we can have the same kind of impact as when safety belts were first introduced." What is speed limiting technology and how does it work? Under the ISA system, cars receive information via GPS and a digital map, telling the vehicle what the speed limit is. This can be combined with a video camera capable of recognising road signs. The system can be overridden temporarily. If a car is overtaking a lorry on a motorway and enters a lower speed-limit area, the driver can push down hard on the accelerator to complete the manoeuvre. A full on/off switch for the system is also envisaged, but this would lapse every time the vehicle is restarted. How soon will it become available? It's already coming into use. Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot-Citroen, Renault and Volvo already have models available with some of the ISA technology fitted. However, there is concern over whether current technology is sufficiently advanced for the system to work effectively. In particular, many cars already have a forward-facing camera, but there is a question mark over whether the sign-recognition technology is up to scratch. Other approved safety features for European cars, vans, trucks and buses include technology which provides a warning of driver drowsiness and distraction, such as when using a smartphone while driving, and a data recorder in case of an accident. media caption Theo Leggett: 'The car brought us to a controlled halt' What does it all mean in practice? Theo Leggett, business correspondent The idea that cars will be fitted with speed limiters - or to put it more accurately, "intelligent speed assistance" - is likely to upset a lot of drivers. Many of us are happy to break limits when it suits us and don't like the idea of Big Brother stepping in. However, the new system as it's currently envisaged will not force drivers to slow down. It is there to encourage them to do so, and to make them aware of what the limit is, but it can be overridden. Much like the cruise control in many current cars will hold a particular speed, or prevent you exceeding it, until you stamp on the accelerator. So it'll still be a free-for-all for speeding motorists then? Not quite. Under the new rules, cars will also be fitted with compulsory data recorders, or "black boxes". So if you have an accident, the police and your insurance company will know whether you've been going too fast. If you've been keeping your foot down and routinely ignoring the car's warnings, they may take a very dim view of your actions. In fact, it's this "spy on board" which may ultimately have a bigger impact on driver behaviour than any kind of speed limiter. It's easy to get away with reckless driving when there's only a handful of traffic cops around to stop you. Much harder when there's a spy in the cab recording your every move. All of this may well reduce accidents, but it won't eliminate them. You can force people to slow down, you can watch what they're doing, you can help them with emergency braking - but you can't get rid of basic bad driving. Unless, of course, you have self-driving cars. How has the idea been received? The move was welcomed by the European Transport Safety Council, an independent body which advises Brussels on transport safety matters. But it said it could be several months before the European Parliament and Council formally approve the measures. The European Parliament will not be able to consider the provisional rules until after its elections take place in May. UK statistics show more than 1,700 people are killed on UK roads every year, while Brake says speed is a contributory factor in about a quarter of all fatal crashes. Brake's campaigns director, Joshua Harris, said: "This is a landmark day for road safety. "These measures will provide the biggest leap forward for road safety this century." The UK's Department for Transport said: "We continuously work with partners across the globe to improve the safety standards of all vehicles. These interventions are expected to deliver a step-change in road safety across Europe, including the UK." The Association of British Insurers held out the possibility that premiums could be reduced as a result. It said: "Motor insurers support measures aimed at improving road safety. Any steps that can be shown to make our roads safer, reducing road crashes and insurance claims, can be reflected in the cost of motor insurance." What do critics say? The AA thinks the system might have the unintended consequence of making drivers more reckless, not less. AA president Edmund King said there was no doubt that new in-car technology could save lives, adding there was "a good case" for autonomous emergency braking to be fitted in all cars. "When it comes to intelligent speed adaptation, the case is not so clear," he said. "The best speed limiter is the driver's right foot.<doc-sep>It seems that politicians believe driver training or road maintenance won't improve anytime soon, so instead they want to limit your car's engine power to make sure you don't break the speed limit while robots determine whether you're fit to drive in the first place. At least that's the proposed plan in Europe starting in May, 2022. Backed by Members of the European Parliament, the European Transport and Safety Council says its new mandatory systems "will reduce collisions by 30 percent and save 25,000 lives within 15 years of being introduced." And so just days after Volvo announced it will introduce driver-facing cameras and limit all its cars to 112 mph, the EU followed up with its own Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) system. Which includes: GPS and/or traffic sign recognition to determine the speed limit of the road, with your car adjusting its engine power accordingly . Granted, the ETSC says that initially, the system will switch off once you floor the gas, mostly "to aid public acceptance at introduction." . Granted, the ETSC says that initially, the system will switch off once you floor the gas, mostly "to aid public acceptance at introduction." Data loggers. When, where, how fast. And the data available to whom? When, where, how fast. And the data available to whom? Advanced autonomous emergency braking and lane keep assist. Reversing cameras. Camera-based driver fatigue detection. Alcohol interlock installation facilitation. A breathalyzer? A breathalyzer? Emergency stop signal. As EVO points out, pressing the pedal to floor won't get rid of your new nannies. The ETSC says that "if the driver continues to drive above the speed limit for several seconds, the system should sound a warning for a few seconds and display a visual warning until the vehicle is operating at or below the speed limit again." Beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep-beep! This wasn't Volvo's idea, but they did just announce a speed limiter and driver monitoring for all their cars, independent of this legislation. Volvo While these measures are subject to the formal approval of the European Parliament and EU member states in September, the European Commission has already approved the legislation, which means it should come into effect from May 2022 for all new models that haven’t been designed yet, and May 2024 for facelifted models. Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the European Transport Safety Council went as far as comparing this step to the mandatory introduction of the seatbelt, and the EU's first minimum crash safety standards of 1998. Again, this is Volvo’s math, not the EU's. Volvo This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>
New cars sold in the European Union will, by 2022, need to be fitted with technology to prevent drivers from exceeding speed limits, according to provisional regulation agreed by the EU on Tuesday. The new rule is part of a series of additional safety measures agreed by the European Parliament, EU Council and Commission. Advanced emergency braking, electronic data recorders, alcohol interlock installation systems and systems to warn drivers of drowsiness will also become mandatory. The aim is to reduce the number of fatalities on European roads which average about 25,000 per year, the EU Commission said in a statement. It estimates that 90% of accidents are due to human error and that the new features will help save over 25,000 lives and avoid 140,000 injuries by 2038. 'Big leap forward' Elzbieta Bienkowska, EU Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs said that "with the new advanced safety features that will become mandatory, we can have the same kind of impact as when the safety belts were first introduced." She also highlighted that "many of the new features already exist, in particular in high-end vehicles." The provisional regulation has also been welcomed by road safety groups. Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the European Transport Safety Council said that "there have only been a handful of moments in the last 50 years which could be described as big leaps forward for road safety in Europe. The mandatory introduction of the seat belt was one, and the EU minimum crash safety standards, agreed in 1998 was another." "If last night's agreement is given the formal green light, it will represent another of those moments, preventing 25,000 deaths within 15 years of coming into force," he added. Britain's road safety charity Brake described the measures as "lifesaving" and said there are "absolutely vital at a time when Britain's road safety record is stagnating." Intelligent Speed Assistance Speed limiters or Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) uses data from GPS and digital maps to determine the car positions and the speed limit in the area. If the vehicle is above the limit, the car sounds a warning and automatically reduces its power to slow down. The system can be overridden by the driver depressing the accelerator down hard to signal that the limiter should be temporarily disabled. Resistance likely in Germany But in Germany, where are no speed limits on 70% of autobahns, there is likely to be strong resistance to the proposals. Euronews correspondent Jessica Saltz told Good Morning Europe that many drivers consider they have the right to choose the speed that they want. Watch Jessica's report on Good Morning Europe in the video player above.