Excessive speed is one of the biggest killers on our roads, a major danger to cyclists, and creates an unwelcoming environment on our roads. In around 30% of fatal accidents, speed is an essential contributory factor and exceeding speed limits is very common. 2,100 lives could be saved each year if the average speed dropped by only 1 km/h on all roads across the EU.

With this in mind, a few years ago we launched a campaign to get 30 kph as the default speed limit in urban areas, we joined with other organizations in an effort to mobilize enough people across Europe to sign a petition that would force the European Commission to look into the issue of vehicle speeding with a view to providing guidelines, recommendations, or even legislation on 30 kph in urban areas.

Unfortunately, our campaign was not successful at the time, however, attitudes and opinions are changing and now it seems local and national authorities are taking matters into their own hands. A couple of weeks ago we received news that the Dutch lower House of Representatives voted for 30 km/h as the new standard (though still not mandatory). Then the Spanish Government decided that it was going to limit speeds to 30 in urban areas on all single lane roads.

We are also seeing city after city implementing 30 as default:.

• Helsinki implemented it a couple of years ago
• Oslo increased it’s number of 30 kph zones, and the result? Not a single cyclist or pedestrian death in 2019!
• Bilbao announced that it will have a 30 km/h limit across the entire city
• And Paris is looking to implement it in 2021
• Brussels has a 30 kph inside its petite ceinture, and will become default 30 kph across the whole Brussels region from January 2021
• Munich has 80% of its roads at 30
• And Graz has been 30 since 1992!

Good news? Definitely. This is a tide turning towards shaping more liveable cities for people to work, play and live in. However, this is only half the story. A limit is one thing but having people conform to the limit is something else!

Typically, 40 to 50% of drivers travel faster than the speed limit, and between 10% to 20% exceed the speed limit by more than 10 km/h. Up to 30% of drivers exceed speed limits on motorways, up to 70% on roads outside built-up areas and as many as 80% in urban areas exceed speed limits, however, when asked if they ever broke the speed limit only 7% of drivers replied that they did in urban areas.

Although there are recidivist drivers and those who seem not to be concerned with the safety of other human beings , I don’t think it is helpful to classify those 80% of drivers who broke the speed limit as criminals. And neither helpful to call the 93% who say they don’t break the speed limit liars!

These behavioural problems exist as do the systemic/structural problems with infrastructure, but a major problem we also have is with the vehicles themselves.

Cars are designed for the fastest speed possible at all times, whether they are in slow, calm urban areas or on fast motorways. Unfortunately, the vehicle remains the same for both long and short journeys. Vehicles also have very little contact with the outside world, driving over a hundred kph on the motorway feels the same as driving 30 or 40 kph. There are zero sounds, movements, or contact with the outside world when cocooned in a steel and aluminium womb!

Although, now we have a technology that is able to break the vehicle down into its proper speed functions, in other words a technology that will assist the driver to keep within the speed limit and allow the driver to take responsibility. Unfortunately it is not so simple.

Last year, the EU, published a new set of excellent vehicle safety standards for the European Union, due to come into force from 2022, including Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA). ISA actively ‘assists’ the driver to keep to the speed limit, either through interaction with the accelerator or/and through reducing the power of the engine when over the limit. The text of the regulation, however, does not provide any specifications for the nuts and bolts of the ISA., instead, the technical requirements are currently being prepared by the European Commission.

Unfortunately, this is not moving in the right direction. The Legal text of the General Safety Regulations requires that the driver should be made aware that the speed limit is exceeded through “…either the accelerator control, or an alternative that provides dedicated, appropriate and effective feedback”. This alternative is being interpreted by the Commission in its writing of the technical specifications as allowing for a visual red light on the dashboard and then a beep if that is ignored; and that is it.

 We think that this will not be a good system to get drivers to go under the limit. If it is too intrusive drivers will turn it off, and if it is not intrusive enough then, well it will not be intrusive enough and drivers will not go under the limit. Either way it is sliced, an auditory beep will not work. We call for a Speed Control Function to be the ‘alternative’ to the pedal system. This has been proved to be effective and to also be pleasant and intuitive to use, and thereby encouraging use.

ECF as part of a collection of likeminded NGOs and organisations have written to Ministers of European countries to ask them to put pressure on the European Commission to implement a true Intelligent Speed Assistance. You can find the letter here. This single technology, if applied properly could help to achieve a high level of compliance with speed limits and eventually cut road deaths by 20%.