The department for Transport published the results of a long term study of the technology involved in Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) on their website.

Intelligent Speed Adaptation

It is a very long and statistic filled document talking about the benefits of different types of technology and how it could be implemented.
While ISA has obvious benefits in terms of reduction in the possibility of speed related accidents there are some interesting issues raised in relation to taking more control of the actual operation of a vehicle away from the driver and passing it to external computerized systems.
The less that a driver has to think about when driving the poorer his ‘overall’ driving abilities must become.
With radar controlled cruise control and Lane Departure systems becoming more prevalent, how long will it be before all a driver does is sits and turns the wheel at an appropriate point.

The report talks about a voluntary and an enforced scenario application of the technology, the dates assumed in the document are 2010 and 2017 respectively, and suggests that the enforced application would require EU implementation and compulsory Retro fitting of the controls.

Implementation Scenarios (Section 4.2.1) (PDF - 997KB)

The test vehicles used were all modern (Less than 5 years old) so no investigation has been done into how the retro-fitting would be compatible/or not with non computer controlled vehicles.

So, if your car does not have an ECU the equipment could not be retro-fitted. Quite how that will sit with the powers that be when the statistics change, after the fitment of ISA, to show that older cars have become the main culprits in speeding and accidents we will have to wait and see.

This is not something that is immediately on the horizon but overall, the report is an interesting insight into current thinking amongst the decision makers at the DfT.

The article, though long, does give an overview into the time spent working out that external speed control can ‘compromise’ some manoeuvres where speed, with control, is essential.
Combine this with some of the other technology such as Volvos active braking system and where does that place the drivers responsibility for any accident in the event of a failure of the systems?

What is ISA and what is the purpose of the report

Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) is a system by which the vehicle “knows” the permitted or recommended maximum speed for a road. The standard system uses an in-vehicle digital road map onto which speed limits have been coded, combined with a positioning system which could be GPS, i.e. the satellite Global Positioning System, but could also be GPS enhanced with map matching and dead reckoning.

A small extract from the document that makes interesting reading

”If the ISA motorcycle entered the Intervention phase, when the vehicle had significantly exceeded the speed limit, the following inputs were supplied to the rider:
The rider would see the warning lights mounted on the screen flash quickly
The rider would feel the shaker located in the saddle pulse quickly
The rider would hear a fast beeping audio alert
The rider would feel the twist grip roll closed as the power of the vehicle was reduced by the actuator “

Later in the report the authors talk about activating the actuator as the rider changes gear, so this particularly frightening scenario can occur.
You are riding a motorcycle and start an overtaking manoeuvre as you approach a thirty mph zone that you were unaware of.
Part way through the manoeuvre you see an oncoming vehicle and change down to complete the manoeuvre safely before the vehicle reaches you.
As you open the throttle again your power is reduced by the electronics to ensure that you don’t exceed the speed limit for the zone you have now entered and you cannot now accelerate enough to complete the overtake before the vehicle reaches you.

Control of a vehicle should always remain with the operator, computer systems are not intelligent, regardless of the names we give them.