Safe Speed Forums

Road pricing ‘will be used to hit speeders’

Daily Express Wednesday 28 February 2007 Page 11

By Macer Hall and John Ingham

A SATELLITE tracking system with the potential to curb the speed of every vehicle in Britain is being developed by the Government.

The "Big Brother" spy technology will mean black-box transmitters in vehicles to monitor driving and instantly record any breach of the speed limit.

In effect, the move is expected to lead to the virtual end of speeding.

But critics fear the system will replace the hated speed camera with something even more sinister and intrusive. Last night one motoring organisation claimed it would turn drivers into "zombies".

The extent of progress in setting up the system was revealed in a report prepared for Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander.

Anger

It showed that £2million of taxpayers' cash had already been spent on developing "Intelligent Speed Adaptation" technology. A trial already under way in Britain is expected to end within months.

Officials insist there are "no plans" to make the system compulsory, claiming many motorists will volunteer to take part.

But the report says the Department of Transport "will take a leading role in developing a national speed limit database".

The move is bound to face widespread opposition. Anger is already sweeping the country at Government plans to introduce a "spy-in¬-the-sky" road toll system.

More than 1.8million people backed an internet petition on the Downing Street website opposing road charging.

Shadow Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: "The Big Brother tendencies of the Government are becoming clearer by the day. Putting an electronic spy into every car isn't the answer when we have two million rogue drivers who operate outside the rules."

The report shows that the system would be similar to the GPS satellite navigation technology.

Using a national database, the speed limit for any road would be automatically communicated to the black box. Any breach could set off an alarm in the vehicle and even trigger an instant penalty notice.

A similar system to enforce speed limits is already operating in Dubai.

The RAC Foundation compared the "Big Brother" system with the speed limits set on dodgems.

Executive director Edmund King said: "Dodgem cars have speed limiters but all crash. If a motorist gives up control to Big Brother or a satellite, he is not concentrating."

Brian Gregory, of the Association of British Drivers said: "I will not drive in a car fitted with ISA because I think it is dangerous.

"You cannot accelerate away from problems in a car with a restricted top speed. We are turning drivers into zombies on cruise control." The Department of Transport last night confirmed the system was being developed but said: "We have no plans to make it compulsory. It has to be led by consumer demand."

The report suggested firms with vehicle fleets would voluntarily sign up for the system to promote good driving. The report does not say when the system could come in, but national satellite road charging is scheduled to be introduced by 2015.

Anyone seen the Daily Mail's version of this story? I had a long chat with them about it.

Drivers' mobiles could be seized

MOBILE phones may be seized from drivers caught using them on the road.

Home Secretary John Reid said yesterday that he was "open" to the idea, as stricter punishments for using a handset at the wheel came into force.

The fixed fine for offenders has doubled, from £30 to £60, and for the first time, those caught using hand-held mobiles will get three penalty points on their licences.

Mr Reid said on the Downing Street website: "I'm always open to suggestion that the phone should be confiscated, though given their widespread availability and relatively cheap cost this may not be a deterrent."

An electronic spy could soon be built into every car to catch out speeding motorists, the Tories have claimed.

The black box device uses satellite technology to track drivers every move and issue them with speeding tickets if they are caught breaking the law.

The system, known as Intelligent Speed Adaptation, could replace all speed cameras in the UK, leading to enforced speed limits on all roads at all times.

The Department of Transport has already funded a two-year study and experts believe that car manufacturers will fit the "black boxes" - costing between £100 and £200 - into all new cars within the decade.

It can also automatically apply the brakes or block the accelerator to prevent a driver from exceeding the speed limit.

Opposition MPs said the plans were further evidence that Britain was turning into a "Big Brother" style surveillance state.

It comes only days after Prime Minister Tony Blair ignored protests of nearly 1.8 million Britons against national road pricing - which will also use "Spy in the Sky" technology to charge motorists for every mile they travel.

Ministers believe the number of people injured on the roads each year would fall by 20 per cent while fatalities would be cut by 37 per cent.

Shadow Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: "This is an extraordinary new development. From ID cards, to chips in wheelie bins to monitor your rubbish, to clipboard-weilding council tax inspectors having the right to come into your home, the Big Brother tendencies of the Government are becoming clearer by the day.

"Now we find out that they've already spent £2million preparing for another satellite spy-in-the-sky system to monitor every drive on every road - this time to enforce speed limits."

Mr Grayling added that ministers should be cracking down on rogue drivers rather than criminalising ordinary motorists who go a couple of miles over the speed limit.

He said: "Of course the Government does need to get serious about road safety. But this means cracking down on the rogue drives on the roads, who we already know are more likely to be involved in accidents.

"Across the country, to the detriment of road safety, and we already have police forces relying on cameras rather than uniformed drivers, and putting an electronic spy into every car isn't the answer when we have two million drivers who operate outside the rules altogether."

However, a Department for Transport spokesman last night denied ministers were considering the plans.

He said: "It is not true. We have done feasibility studies into this, but we have been clear that there are no plans to make it compulsory."

The Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) system is already used in some vehicles. When a car drives into an area where the speed limit drops from 40 mph to 30mph, a signal is sent to a device which controls the car's engine management system, preventing the speed from rising above the legal limit.

The driver hears an audible "beep" when the limit changes, and can see a warning on the electronic map on the dashboard.

The system detects whether the driver is responding to the new limit and, if not, will begin braking automatically some 300 yards before the 30mph sign.

The Government's road safety review says the use of Intelligent Speed Adaptation "will only be possible with the development of a national speed limit database".

But it then goes on to say that the Department of Transport will take a "leading role" in developing such a system.

It will also liaise with councils to run a pilot "speed limit updating process" and also investigate a trunk road pilot scheme with the Government's Highways Agency.

Critics point out that the Government is carefully putting in place - like pieces from a jigsaw - all the disparate elements necessary to create a 'Big Brother' surveillance system that can track, charge and prosecute drivers with automatic fixed penalty notices.

The Silvester Stallone and Sandra Bullock sci-fi movie "Demolition Man" - in which a Los Angeles cop is transported to the future - features just such a system, with drivers automatically billed for traffic, speeding and even language violations if they swear.

Earlier this month the Daily Mail revealed how a blueprint for pay-as-you drive road-pricing schemes, sent out recently to local councils, makes clear that cars should also be penalised according to how much they pollute - not just the distance travelled.

This would be based on the emissions of carbon dioxide CO2- the so-called greenhouse gas blamed for global warming. It would require the data of each car - held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency - to be used to give an individual rating for each car.

Paul Smith, from motoring campaign group SafeSpeed, said the Intelligent Speed Adaptation was "fundamentally dangerous".

He said: "It is fundamentally dangerous for drivers to give over control over their vehicles to a satellite system. They will simply put their footdown on the accelerator and rely on the system to slow them down.

"We have a highly developed road safety system in this country with drivers responsible for their own actions. It would be wrong to change the entire system, which ISA does.

"It is like taking a sledgehammer to fix a nut."

My friend has already said that if this road pricing goes ahead he won't be able to travel to work because it'll cost him more than he earns.

Even if he can technically afford it, why should he have to sacrifice any quality of life in order to go to work?!

It can also automatically apply the brakes or block the accelerator to prevent a driver from exceeding the speed limit

I would never, ever drive a car that has ISA attached and I wouldn't ride a bike with ISA on it. In both instances it has the potential to kill due to being unable to accelerate out of danger.

Can anyone give me ideas of countries to emigrate where there isn't a 4 year waiting list?