Speed limiters will mandatory on all new cars sold in the UK from 6th July, but the new law doesn’t apply to motorcycles.

Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) is a software system which automatically limits speed to whatever limit is prevailing, though it can be overridden by the driver. Many car manufacturers already fit ISA, including Ford, Mercedes, Peugeot/Citroen, Volvo and Renault.

Anna Zee, Political and Technical Services Director of the BMF, explained the context. “ISA is part of the General Safety Regulation (GSR) passed by the EU in October 2021 and includes a number of items besides ISA, such as Automatic Emergency Braking. Yes, we will see this on cars sold in the UK because there is no law to say they must not be included and the manufacturers will get type approval for Europe and supply the same cars to the UK. Road safety bodies such as the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) are keen to see the whole package implemented in UK legislation – the point is that the combination of measures included amplify the benefits of each measure individually. They say that selecting only some of the measures will dilute the safety benefits.”
However, Anna Zee underlined that motorcycles are not included. “There is currently no legislation mandating the fitting of ISA systems to motorcycles; the EU is aware that a bike is a different beast and currently agrees that if fitted in future on bikes use of ISA will be optional.”

Jim Freeman, Chair of the BMF, added: “Exclusion of motorcycles from compulsory ISA didn’t just happen, it’s because FEMA (Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations), FIM E (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) and our own Anna Zee lobbied against it. That’s why I’m in the BMF.”

Written by Peter Henshaw 

Top image courtesy of Image Party – Pixabay