All new cars sold in Malta would have to be fitted with technology that stops drivers from exceeding speed limits under proposed new vehicle safety rules being laid out in Brussels.
The speed limitation technology is one of a range of safety features to be made mandatory from 2022, along with automated emergency braking and electronic data recorders, after a provisional agreement was reached by the European Commission.
The package of measures still needs to be ratified by the European Parliament, which could see it toned down.
Speed limitation devices, called intelligent speed assistance, or ISA, uses GPS data and sign recognition cameras to detect speed limits where the car is travelling.
These normally sound a warning and automatically slow down the vehicle if it is exceeding the limit.
However, drivers will be able to override the device simply by pushing hard on the accelerator. Motoring groups have argued that in certain situations, such as when trying to swiftly overtake a vehicle in front, speeding up could be safer.
“Every year, 25,000 people lose their lives on our roads. The vast majority of these accidents are caused by human error. We can and must act to change this,” Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, responsible for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said.
This can have the same impact as when safety belts were first introduced.
“With the new advanced safety features that will become mandatory, we can have the same kind of impact as when the safety belts were first introduced.
“Many of the new features already exist, in particular in high–end vehicles. Now we raise the safety level across the board, and pave the way for connected and automated mobility of the future.”
The new mandatory safety measures also include warning of driver drowsiness and distraction (such as smartphone use while driving), intelligent speed assistance and cameras or sensors for reversing.
Cars and vans will also be equipped with lane-keeping assistance and crash-test improved safety belts, while trucks and lorries will have specific requirements to improve drivers’ direct vision, and systems to detect and warn of cyclists and pedestrians, particularly while making turns.
The Commission said the proposed measures are expected to help save more than 25,000 lives and avoid at least 140,000 serious injuries by 2038, contributing to the EU's long-term goal of moving close to zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2050.