Speeding plays a substantial role in many of the traffic accidents that happen every year on roads throughout the United States. Pennsylvania road users might be safer if automakers adopted speed assistance technology, but there is some resistance to adding it to vehicles as a standard feature.
Speed-reducing technology
Intelligent speed assistance can either slow a driver down or warn them that they are exceeding the speed limit. The technology has been widely adopted throughout Europe, and beginning in 2024, new cars there will be required to have it. In the United States, the National Transportation Safety Board has recommended it for new cars, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is considering making speed assistance a requirement for new vehicles as a way of reducing motor vehicle accidents. However, there are hurdles to its acceptance.
Challenges
When there are several roads in close proximity with different speed limits, current technology cannot always determine which one is correct for the road the vehicle is on. For this reason, even if speed assistance is adopted as a standard feature, it may only be the warning system. Another potential issue is that the technology simply does not have a groundswell of demand from consumers, and car buyers might be reluctant to pay extra for the feature. This means that it may take a federal regulation to make the switch.
New York City’s pilot
In the meantime, a pilot program is underway in New York City. The city is using speed assistance technology in a few hundred vehicles out of a municipal fleet of over 23,000.
Some within the auto industry argue that better laws and stronger driver education is the path to more vehicle safety throughout the country. Safety advocates and the auto industry will continue to seek ways to reduce the growing number of injuries and death related to speeding vehicles.
