The clock is ticking down to a new law on speed limits that’ll have an effect on driving in the UK.
A week into July all new cars sold in Europe will have to have speed limiters fitted after legislation was passed by the European Union in July 2022.
Now I know what you’re thinking: “But Joe, we left the European Union, how could such continental matters possibly affect us?”
I know, dear reader, I know, but if there’s one thing we’ve learned from that whole Brexit malarkey it’s that just because the UK left the EU it doesn’t mean Brits aren’t still affected by what goes on there.
We buy a lot of our cars from Europe and since they’ll be affected by this law change that means the ones which get shipped over will have speed limiters.
Cars made in the UK and sold in Europe also need them, and the British government hasn’t felt the need to diverge from the EU on this matter so speed limiters are coming in.
The UK hasn’t felt the need to deviate from the EU’s laws on this one, and with good reason. (Getty Stock Image)
More specifically they’re coming in seven days as they’ll become mandatory in the UK and across the EU on 7 July, and it means that some cars will have to be retrofitted too.
Don’t panic, good people of Britain, if your car is bought and registered then you’re already fine.
However, those unregistered vehicles sitting on the forecourts of car dealerships across the land will have to have speed limiters fitted onto them.
From 7 July onwards cars sold will need to have this technology fitted.
As for how it works, we call it a speed limiter but it’s an Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA, but not like one you’d get at the bank) system.
It uses sign recognition cameras and GPS to figure out the speed limit on the road and work out how fast the car is going, and if you’re over the limit it’ll tell you.
Your car will know which road it’s on and what the speed limit is, then try to slow you down if you go over it. (Getty Stock Image)
It’s still up to you, the creature of flesh and blood with a working brain that sits behind the wheel, to control the car’s speed but if you’re over the limit then your car will let you know.
An ISA comes in three flavours of interference with your driving, so it could change how you behave behind the wheel.
The first and most unobtrusive is the ‘advisory’ ISA which will simply tell you if you’ve gone over the speed limit on the road you drive upon, this is something many SatNavs already do.
Then there’s the ‘supportive’ ISA which does all of that but also makes it harder for you to put your foot down on the accelerator pedal if it detects that you’ve gone over the limit.
Finally there’s the most intrusive ‘intervening’ system which reduces power to the engine if you’re speeding, gradually reducing speed until it gets you back within the legal limit.
While it’s only seven days before this becomes mandatory, some manufacturers have got ahead of the game and are already selling cars with speed limiters fitted.