YoThere is no doubt in the highway code and in the courts about the meaning of those big numbers in red circles. However, as a quick drive down any urban street or highway without control cameras can show, many drivers still regard speed signs as an aspiration rather than a limit.
The technology that will be required across Europe from this weekend may change that culture, as from 7 July all new cars sold in the EU and Northern Ireland will have to have a range of technical safety features fitted as standard. The most notable of these is the intelligent speed assist, or, colloquially, the speed limiter.
The rest of the UK is theoretically free, as ministers used to say, to make the most of its post-Brexit freedoms, but the integrated nature of car manufacturing means that new vehicles here will also tell their drivers to take their foot off the accelerator. By combining maps from the sat-nav system with a front-facing camera to read road signs, they will automatically sound an alarm if you drive at too high a speed for the area you are in.
Drivers of most new cars will be familiar with similar features already fitted, but they are currently easy to override. According to a representative of a major manufacturer: “You have to weigh up whether it makes the car safer, but people are going mad. In practice, we are seeing a lot of people turning everything off.”
From now on, however, cars will be designed with systems that cannot be switched off permanently and that are switched back on every time the engine is switched on. Will car enthusiasts see this as progress?
“It’s one of those things that’s very hard to argue against,” says Steve Fowler, a motoring consultant and former editor of Autocar. “Not only will following the speed limit save you in a whole host of ways, it will potentially save lives.”
Safety is the main reason for reducing speed and, as charities such as Brake and Rospa highlight, even small increases above 30mph make a significant difference to outcomes, particularly for those who do not drive.
Yousif Al-Ani, principal engineer for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) at Thatcham Research, says: “Modern vehicles are very good at protecting occupants in a collision through passive safety features such as airbags and crumple zones, but these have limited benefit for vulnerable road users,” such as pedestrians and cyclists.
The number of road deaths involving speeding vehicles in Britain has risen faster than the total number of fatalities since the Covid-19 pandemic, up 20% in 2022 to 303 from 1,695.
A significant minority of drivers admit to exceeding the speed limits on all types of roads, but observing the fluid traffic by the Department of Transportation suggests that the proportions are greater. According to the RAC Motorsport Report 202357% of drivers said they had exceeded the 112km/h speed limit on motorways. The 50km/h limit in most urban areas was the most likely to be broken, with only 40% breaking it. The DfT found that on roads with a 32km/h limit and flowing traffic (not residential streets with speed bumps) between 80 and 90% of vehicles were not breaking the limit.
One of the most common statements made to the RAC by speeders was that “I drive at the speed of other road users.” That kind of social pressure may not surprise those who struggle to keep to the 20mph limit on, say, the larger roads of London or Wales, with drivers behind showing furious disbelief; or on roads like the M6 toll, where many seem to regard the £9.70 charge as a way of buying the right to overtake at 80mph as much as they do to bypass Birmingham.
But with accurate computer readings replacing unstable speedometer needles and a new generation of speed cameras increasing enforcement, it may become increasingly difficult to avoid liability. Lawyers say those who turn off the speed limiter as they set off may face difficulties if they end up in court.
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In addition to the limiter, other ADAS features such as automatic lane keeping and autonomous emergency braking will be mandatory. Questions remain over whether the technology works well enough in all real-life situations and how comfortable people will be with their car telling them what to do, let alone taking control of steering, braking and acceleration – a potentially alarming and disorienting experience.
“Striking a balance between safety, performance and integration to create systems that cooperate with drivers is a real challenge for manufacturers,” says Al-Ani.
The consensus, though, is that the benefits far outweigh the risks. More drivers are willing to slow down and trust the technology, Fowler says. “Driving is changing, and I think drivers are changing. As much as it pains me to say it, they don’t necessarily like the things that enthusiasts of the past loved, the engineering behind them.
“People are more aware that driving faster consumes more fuel. If you drive at 125 km/h on the motorway, consumption increases exponentially.”
With the rising cost of living making the focus on miles per gallon as much as speed, the joy may be in driving well rather than driving fast, Fowler said. “We need to raise a new generation of drivers who find that driving in a more relaxed manner can be just as rewarding. Driving well, so that you can keep up the pace, without having to stop and start all the time, will save you fuel, money and emissions. Maybe mpg is the new mph.”