Speed limiter: Echoes from the West

The change gives motorists a breather as subtle, not full enforcement commenced on June 1, while full enforcement starts on September 1. This shift in enforcement strategy is meant to provide time for both the FRSC and its partners to embark on more aggressive advocacy, as a plank for the success of the initiative. Since […]

The change gives motorists a breather as subtle, not full enforcement commenced on June 1, while full enforcement starts on September 1. This shift in enforcement strategy is meant to provide time for both the FRSC and its partners to embark on more aggressive advocacy, as a plank for the success of the initiative. Since the commission flew the idea a couple of years ago, stakeholders have maintained divergent views or positions on its introduction just like they did over seatbelt and other road safety interventions. In the case of the speed limiter enforcement, some observers like a friend of mine, still wonder if there is any justification for the introduction of speed limiters in the first instance, especially against the backdrop of the need to speed above the approved limit in the face of attacks by robbers on our roads, which according to him makes our roads unsafe.
This divergence of opinion or sometimes outright opposition, is not peculiar to low income economies or developing societies such as ours, but is also prevalent in developed societies. This is ironic because the West is often graded as better enlightened, have better and improved infrastructure, place better value on human life and are more proactive and embrace best road safety practices while the reverse is the case in developing societies, especially Africa with its poor road safety foundation. The West is therefore expected to embrace every initiative meant to preserve life. Unfortunately, the speed limiter initiative has proven that humans are the same.
Today, I wish to relay the echoes from the West with specific reference to the United Kingdom, especially against the backdrop of the European Union (EU) plans to fit all cars with speed limiters to stop them from speeding above 70 mph under a new EU road safety measure which aims to cut deaths from road accidents by a third. Under this proposal, new cars would be fitted with cameras that could read road speed limit signs and automatically apply the brakes when this is exceeded.
The new measures have been announced by the European Commission’s Mobility and Transport Department as a measure to reduce the 30,000 people who die on the roads in Europe every year and shockingly, 1.5 million are injured, of whom 120,000 are left permanently disabled. The EC Mobility and Transport Department hopes to roll out the ‘Intelligent Speed Adaptation’ technology (ISA) as part of a new road safety programme, which aims to slash the death toll from traffic accidents by a third by 2020. Experts estimate that 6,000 of those deaths could be prevented if drivers obeyed speed limits.
But Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, who by my guess should know better, is opposed to the plans, which could also mean sending existing cars to garages to be fitted with the speed limiters, preventing them from going over 70 mph. It is even reported that he plans to block the move because they violated motorists’ freedom. “This has Big Brother written all over it and is exactly the sort of thing that gets people’s backs up about Brussels,” he is reported to have said. A report claimed that one of the reasons he was against the ISA scheme is that the UK has a better road safety records than other European countries: “McLoughlin has stressed that the UK already has one of the best road safety records in Europe. The number of people killed on our roads fell last year from 1,901 to 1,754 – the lowest figure since records began in 1926. By comparison, 3,645 people died in France and 3,657 in Germany.”
The Transport Secretary is not alone is this opposition. A spokesman for the AA said that at lower speeds, the new technology could actually create dangers. “If you were overtaking a tractor and suddenly needed to accelerate to avoid a head-on collision, you would not be able to,” he argued. But he said he would support a system of audible speed alerts.
However, a spokesman for the EC said: “It is part of the Commission’s job – because it has been mandated to do so by member states, including the UK – to look at, promote research into and consult stakeholders about new road-safety technology which might ultimately save lives. This is done in close co-operation with member states and the UK has generally supported such efforts.” The spokesman added that: “There is currently consultation focusing on speed-limiting technology already fitted to HGVs and buses.”
Despite the opposition, experts are confident of the value of speed limiters noting that: “We conducted trials with 20 cars and 80 different drivers over an extended period, and actually the drivers found they changed their habits and changed their behaviour and might not have taken the risk of overtaking.” However, critics have warned that a similar, existing system for truck drivers showed that the devices could cause drivers not to give driving their full attention. Claire Armstrong, from the road safety charity Safe Speed, said: “They drive along at 56, they stick their foot on the floor because they know the equipment will not go any faster, and they pretty much go into fatigue mode, or zombie mode. They stop paying attention to the road, and that makes it highly dangerous in those scenarios. You’ve taken the responsibility away from the driver and that is not good for road safety.”
What this means, which is similar to what happened in countries in Africa where similar technology had been employed, is that abuses will no doubt come and this is one challenge that our personnel must be ready to tackle.
 As I conclude this piece, I wish to leave you with a definition of speed limiters, although there might be other richer definitions of speed limiters. For the purpose of today’s piece and based on definition sourced, a speed limiter is a governor <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_(device)> used to limit the top speed of a vehicle. For some classes of vehicle and in some jurisdictions <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurisdiction> such as is being planned in our country, they are a statutory <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutory> requirement.