From 7 July 2024, all new cars sold in the UK will be fitted with a speed limiter designed to prevent drivers exceeding the posted limit on any given stretch of road. It’s actually a European Union law, but the UK government signed up to it post-Brexit. The mandatory speed limiters are intended to make the roads safer by reducing speeding.
The tech is quite complicated and has potentially far-reaching implications for how a car behaves and how you use it, so it’s definitely worth understanding. Especially as there is some misleading information out there. On which point, just to be clear, the rules only apply to brand-new cars. And it’s worth stating that the presence of a speed limiter doesn’t absolve a driver of responsibility for making sure they stick to the speed limit.
So, in this article we’re going to explain everything you need to know about speed limiters, how they work, and what get-arounds are built into the system.
How does speed limiter tech work?
The speed limiters fitted to new cars – or intelligent speed assistance (ISA), as the tech is technically known – use a combination of camera-based traffic sign recognition and GPS information to determine the speed limit on whichever stretch of road you’re driving along. There’s also a data logger plumbed into the system, which we’ll come back to later.
Will my car stop me speeding?
Yes. When you reach the prevailing speed limit, the limiter system restricts the engine’s power such that you can’t accelerate anymore.
Should you manage to exceed the speed limit, one or a combination of four things will happen: an alarm will sound, a warning will flash on the dashboard, the throttle pedal will vibrate, or the car will slow down.
However, regardless of what the speed limiter does, a car’s driver ultimately bears responsibility for making sure they adhere to the prevailing speed limit at all times.
Can the speed limiter be turned off?
Not everyone will like the prospect of their car preventing them from driving as they wish. However, the good news is that there are ways of getting around the speed limiter system. It will temporarily disengage if you mash the throttle to the floor to overtake, or it can be turned off entirely.
Exactly how you do that will vary from car to car, but it’s likely the option will be in the same vehicle settings menu that allows you turn off other driver assistance features such as lane keeping assist. Annoyingly, you’ll have to turn it off every time you start the car’s engine, but then you have to with every other assistance system that can be disengaged.
Why is a data logger part of the speed limiter system?
While you can turn the speed limiter off, you can’t get away from it entirely. A data logger – or black box – will constantly record your car’s speed and location. Should you have an accident, your insurer will be able to interrogate the data logger to see if you were exceeding the speed limit at the time of the accident and if the limiter system was turned off. If so, your insurance may be invalid.
On the flip side, the limiter may net you a lower insurance premium. A spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers 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.’
How reliable is speed limiter tech?
Systems that restrict a car to the prevailing speed are nothing new. For some years there have been cars on the market with intelligent speed assist or adaptive cruise control linked to traffic sign recognition and GPS data which speed the car up and slow it down as the speed limit changes on a stretch of road.
However, our experience of such systems suggests they can get it wrong. In one instance, a car’s traffic sign recognition system picked up a 30mph sign on a turning off a dual carriage and dramatically slowed down, despite the fact the car was actually travelling along the outside lane.
Now, this was just one instance, but our experience of other advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) such as lane keeping assist and driver attention monitoring suggests they can be quite jumpy and abrupt in their interventions. And research among the general car buying public suggests that many of them have similar feelings and habitually turn off their car’s ADAS.
It’s too early to say whether or not speed limiter systems will be able to consistently determine the prevailing speed limit. But teething issues are inevitable, and the tech will improve over time.
What cars will be fitted with a speed limiter?
There has been some misleading information about exactly which cars have to be fitted with a speed limiter. Some reports might lead you to think that every car currently on the road will have to be fitted with one, but that’s very much not the case.
The speed limiter rules apply to brand-new cars that are built from 7 July 2024. There are some exceptions, but such cars are built in small enough numbers to fall outside the rules – Caterham sports cars, for instance.
There have been reports that brand-new cars already sat on dealer forecourts on 7 July will have to be ‘retrofitted’ with a speed limiter system. However, such claims are not quite accurate. That’s because many new cars built since July 2022 have been fitted with a speed limiter system, anyway.
It’s not been turned on, but the hardware and software has been embedded in the car. The 7 July 2024 date is merely the deadline for manufacturers of cars that fall within the scope of the rules to comply with them.
It may be that the speed limiter system is activated on brand-new cars sat on dealer forecourts on 7 July, but there is no suggestion activation will be enforced for older cars fitted with the tech. Nor that it will have to be fitted to pre-July 2022 cars.
Are speed limiters really necessary?
Speed limiters will reduce road collisions by 30% across Europe, according to the European Transport Safety Council, the body which led the push for mandatory speed limiters. The European Commission estimates that speed limiters and other safety features also included in the General Safety Regulations 2 package will reduce serious injuries in road traffic accidents by 140,000 by 2038.
The Commission has stated a goal of eliminating all road deaths in Europe by 2050. In Great Britain, 303 people died in incidents ascribed to excess speed in 2022, and another 2,180 were seriously injured.
FAQs
Does a speed limiter reduce insurance?
There is no one size fits all answer here. While a speed limiter can potentially reduce your car insurance premiums, it’s not a guaranteed outcome. Insurance companies may view speed limiters as a positive safety feature because they help prevent speeding, which could reduce the risk of accidents. As a result, some insurers might offer lower premiums for vehicles equipped with these devices.
However, the impact on your insurance costs will depend on several factors, including your driving history, the specific insurer’s policies, and whether they recognize speed limiters as a factor in their pricing model. It’s always a good idea to check with your insurance provider to see if having a speed limiter installed could lead to a discount on your policy.
Do speed limiters affect your fuel efficiency?
Yes, having a speed limiter can improve your fuel efficiency by preventing excessive speeding, which often leads to higher fuel consumption. By maintaining a steady and legal speed, your car can use fuel more efficiently.
Are speed limiters the same as cruise control?
No, speed limiters and cruise control serve different purposes. Cruise control maintains a set speed chosen by the driver, while a speed limiter prevents the vehicle from exceeding a certain speed limit, often based on legal road limits.
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