A coalition of stakeholders is recommending that vehicles come equipped with speed limiters that would help motorists drive at safe speeds and reduce the number of auto accidents caused by speeding.
The Road to Zero Coalition is a group of stakeholders including automakers, regulators, safety experts and other organizations that are committed to not just envisioning, but also bringing about a scenario with minimal car accident wrongful deaths by the year 2050. Progress towards reducing the number of car accidents has been slow, and has, in fact, reversed over the past few years as fatality numbers have soared across the country. The situation became even more dire during the pandemic as the number of car accident wrongful deaths across the country skyrocketed during this period of time. Speeding is being blamed as one of the primary reasons for the increase in car accident deaths not only in Georgia, but across the country. Experts believe that motorists who became use to speeding on empty roads during the lockdowns have not yet adjusted to larger traffic volumes following the end of the pandemic and easing of travel restrictions. This has contributed to a spike in the number of people being killed in car accidents.
These car accident wrongful deaths are very preventable because they are mostly due to human error. Speeding, for instance, accounts for approximately 30% of all car accident deaths in the country. Curtailing speeding, therefore, is on top of the priority list for the Road to Zero coalition which recently called for the use of Intelligent Speed Assistance systems on all cars. These systems can alert the motorist when he or she is travelling at speeds higher than the posted speed limits. The system makes use of GPS software and other technology in order to identify the posted speed limits on the route and sound audible alerts if the driver does not apply the brakes. In some cases, the system can even intervene to reduce speed limits automatically by reducing power to the engine in case the motorist fails to act by applying the brakes.
The European Union will require such Intelligent Speed Assistance systems on all vehicles by 2024. The Road to Zero Coalition wants at least warning – based systems to be on the road as a first step towards encouraging motorists to stay within speed. The Coalition is also recommending the use of Intelligent Speed Assistance systems as a deterrent for repeat offenders in the same manner that ignition interlock systems are currently being used for drunk driving offenders.
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