Speed limiters may be used for cars in EU plan
Drivers may be forced to have their cars fitted with technology which keeps them within the speed limit under new road safety rules being considered by the EU.
New cars would have to feature systems capable of detecting limits through cameras or satellites and automatically applying the brakes.
Existing cars could be forced back to the garage to be fitted with the devices, which would mean that no car in the UK could go over the 70mph speed limit for motorways.
But transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has instructed officials to fight the move after he was asked for his views ahead of formal proposals by the European Commission (EC) this autumn.
A goverment source said: “To be forced to have automatic controls in your car amounts to Big Brother nannying by EU bureaucrats.”
The EC’s Mobility and Transport Department wants to roll out the Intelligent Speed Authority technology in a bid to cut the death toll from road collisions by a third by 2020.
More than 30,000 people die on the road in EU countries every year and 1.5 million are hurt, with 120,000 left permanently disabled.
Most Read
- 1 A14 near Ipswich remains partially closed after fire breaks out
- 2 Drought declared in Suffolk as temperatures set to soar this weekend
- 3 Firefighters tackling large fire near country park
- 4 Complaints of 'terrible smell' coming from Melton animal crematorium
- 5 Crews battle huge 15-acre fire in mid Suffolk village
- 6 20 fire engines and 90 firefighters contain large forest blaze
- 7 Suffolk letting agent admits swindling customers out of £80,000
- 8 A14 in west Suffolk closes overnight after serious multi-vehicle crash
- 9 Residents help firefighters tackle huge blaze near homes
- 10 Police seize lorry on A14 after driver had no licence or insurance
But Mr McLoughlin has told officials that the UK has one of the best road safety records in Europe, with deaths down from 1,901 to 1,754 last year – the lowest figure since records began in 1926.