Speed limiting software set to become mandatory in cars this July in the UK

The British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF) has announced that all the new cars to be sold in the UK starting this July will come mandatory fitted with speed-limiting software. Called Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), the software has already been implemented by some carmakers such as Ford, Mercedes, and Renault, as per BMF. The rest of the carmakers will have to make it standard in cars to be sold in the UK starting from July 2022.

The ISA software limits the speed of the car as per the prevailing limit on the road. If the user is driving in an 80 kmph zone, the car's top speed will be limited to 80 kmph for that specific zone, however, the BMF notes that the software can also be overridden by the user. “ISA is part of the General Safety Regulation (GSR) passed by the EU in October 2021 and includes a number of items besides ISA, such as Automatic Emergency Braking," Anna Zee, Political and Technical Services Director of the BMF explained.

When it comes to motorcycles, the ISA will remain an optional inclusion for now. This means that motorcycle manufacturers are free to use to implement the ISA in their model if they choose to, however, for cars it is mandatory.

Given the evolving nature of the auto industry, it is only a matter of time when such technology will eventually make its way into bikes as well since electric bikes and scooters are now becoming more common.

Zee continued, “Yes, we will see this on cars sold in the UK because there is no law to say they must not be included and the manufacturers will get type approval for Europe and supply the same cars to the UK. Road safety bodies such as the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) are keen to see the whole package implemented in UK legislation – the point is that the combination of measures included amplify the benefits of each measure individually. They say that selecting only some of the measures will dilute the safety benefits."