Six-month ISA trial in London

Creation date: 22 October 2009

May 2009 was the start of a 6 month ISA trial within the M25 motorway area in London. Transport for London’s Road Safety Unit contracted the Dutch technology provider Technolution to carry out the test of an ISA system in 20 of its vehicles with eighty drivers. The system makes use of a digital map and GPS to identify the speed limit appropriate for the vehicle at each location.

There are two different modes: the advisory mode just warns the driver if he is exceeding the speed limit, while the voluntary one actually makes sure that the car doesn’t break the set limits (even though this can still be overridden).
According to TfL, if two-thirds of drivers would start to use this technology in London alone, road casualty numbers could be cut by 10 %. The University of Leeds’ Institute of Transport Safety claims that if 100 % of the population were to use ISA, casualties would be reduced by 3 % with an advisory system, 12 % with a voluntary system, and 29 % with a non-overrideable system. These figures clearly show the potential of ISA to deliver huge safety benefits.

Source: Traffic Technology International, August/September 2009

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