European Union Mandates Intelligent Speed Assistance for New Vehicles by 2024

Rewritten Article: The European Union has mandated that all new cars and trucks sold within its borders and in Northern Ireland after July 6, 2024, will be required to have intelligent speed assistance (ISA) technology installed. This safety feature is designed to prevent car accidents by alerting drivers when they are exceeding the speed limit through a combination of audible alerts such as beeping or vibrations and reducing vehicle speeds if necessary. The United Kingdom has opted not to require ISA usage on its roads, but it will still need to be installed in vehicles sold thereafter. Ford and other manufacturers have been offering this technology since 2015, and the European Commission requires all new cars currently for sale to incorporate the system by default starting next year. According to studies, if universally implemented, ISA could save around 30% of collisions and 20% of deaths on roads across Europe, while Leeds University has predicted that the United Kingdom’s annual number of injuries caused by vehicle crashes would decrease by approximately 12%. The European Transport Safety Council contends further that ISA technology can help drivers avoid speeding tickets as well. In its announcement in 2018, the EU estimated that around 25,000 deaths on roads occurred annually and maintained that it was their responsibility to reduce this number through legislative action.