Illegal and inappropriate speed is the single biggest contributory factor in fatal road crashes. It increases both the risk of a crash happening and the severity of injuries resulting from crashes. Managing speed is therefore the most important measure to reduce death and injury on our roads. But the concern for safety is not the only reason why speed management is important. Following the oil crisis of the 1970s, many lower speed limits were introduced in an attempt to reduce fuel consumption and improve fuel efficiency. Current concerns over climate change and CO2 emissions have once again stirred arguments for lowering speed limits and improving their enforcement. Modern technology offers substantial improvements to the management of speed and the compliance with speed limits. Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) is the term given to a range of devices that assist drivers in choosing appropriate speeds and complying with speed limits. ISA technologies are however not used on a wide scale and there are a number of ideas circulating as to why this is so. Some of the arguments advanced by opponents of early ISA application deny that speed is a priority. Others state that the technology is problematic, unreliable, or that the data requirements are too demanding. Further arguments surround issues such as liability or data ownership that offer legal obstacles to ISA application. Following a brief description of ISA technologies and the steps needed to implement them, this publication will outline why such arguments are false and why work on ISA technologies now needs to move on from evaluation to implementation. (Author/publisher)
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