Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) and Road Safety.

An ISA system consists of GPS to determine the car's position, a CD-ROM in the car containing information of a road network including the prevailing speed limit of each road section, and feedback to the driver, Experiments in Sweden are testing several options, from warning the driver, to resisting force exerted by the accelerator pedal that can be countered by the driver. In the Netherlands the system intervenes so the limit cannot be exceeded. Experiments in Sweden have recently been concluded and an evaluation is in progress. In the Netherlands the project was concluded early 2001. The field experiments so far mainly concern the measure of acceptance of the system(s) by the public. Several simulation studies have also been conducted. Little is known as yet from practical research of the effects of ISA on road safety, though a large safety potential is assumed. For the Dutch situation, based on the assumption that all passenger cars are fitted with ISA and an assumed speed distribution as the result of ISA, a theoretical calculation is made of the effects of ISA on speed and safety. The result is an estimated reduction of road casualties of 25 to 30%. Further, the assumed speed distribution is validated with field measurements of the experiment in the city of Tilburg. The result is that the measured average speed of the speed distribution fits quite well with the calculated average speed. (Author/publisher)