Stakeholder perspectives on the adoption and application of Intelligent Speed Assistance in UK vehicles

Introduction

Intelligent speed assistance (ISA) is an in-vehicle technology which can assist drivers to comply with speed limits and therefore avoid speeding penalties and reduce crash severity and frequency. ISA's road safety impact will depend on the extent to which drivers use it which in turn will be influenced by the actions of stakeholders involved in ISA roll-out.

Methods

This study interviewed 60 stakeholders from road safety practitioners and researchers (n = 14), police and crash investigation (n = 6), insurance (n = 6), driver training (n = 5), manufacturing and technology (n = 12), policy and infrastructure (n = 14) and motoring organisations (n = 3). Thematic analysis generated three superordinate themes: 1) Benefits and concerns, 2) Driver culture and behaviour, and 3) Stakeholder preferences.

Results

Around three quarters of stakeholders were in favour of fitment of ISA in UK vehicles, one third preferred an intervening ISA and one third an advisory ISA. ISA was described as having the potential to reduce road crashes, improve speed compliance, protect vulnerable road users, and change ingrained speeding behaviours. Concerns around ISA included technical inaccuracies, reduced driver control, driver restrictions and system complexity.

Conclusions

Our findings highlight that the potential safety benefits offered by ISA require public acceptance to be realised. Therefore, they indicate a need to develop safety campaigns to highlight these potential benefits.