According to a survey conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), more than 60% of drivers in the United States would be okay with their vehicles providing audible and visual warnings if they exceeded the posted speed limit. The survey, which included 1,802 drivers, aimed to understand how people felt about intelligent speed assistance systems (ISA).
Over-speeding contributes to more than a quarter of traffic fatalities in the U.S. each year, resulting in over 12,000 deaths in 2022. Despite this, about half of drivers admitted to driving at least 15 mph over the speed limit in the past month. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety provided this data, highlighting the importance of addressing speeding issues.
In the European Union, starting next month, all new vehicles will be required to have ISA systems installed. These systems use technologies like speed sign-recognition video cameras and GPS-linked data to inform drivers of the current speed limits and warn them if they exceed these limits, according to the European Transport Safety Council.
IIHS senior research scientist Ian Reagan emphasized the potential of existing technologies to significantly reduce speeding and eliminate speeding tickets. However, recent developments like adaptive cruise control and partial automation systems allow drivers to continue speeding.
Of the drivers surveyed, more than 80% expressed interest in having a feature that displays the current speed limit, while over 70% supported having a subtle sound alert them when the speed limit changes. Additionally, around half of the participants said they would not mind a technology that makes it harder to press the accelerator pedal or automatically restricts speed as a way to prevent speeding.