THE House of Commons Select Committee on Transport wants to see fleet managers being the first to adopt computerised speed control system in cars when it becomes viable, following figures showing that a large majority of drivers continually exceed speed limits.

According to a survey 'Vehicle Speeds in Great Britain: 2001' more than half of cars on motorways travel faster than the speed limit with 18% travelling faster than 80mph, and 65% of cars exceeding 30mph urban limits.

In a separate report, 'Road Traffic Speed' the select committee concluded 'the groups most likely to speed excessively are those driving in a work related capacity.'

It recommended the Government should fund trials for the next four years of Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) technology which limits a car to the speed of the road it is on. It added the Government should be 'encouraging voluntary adoption by fleet managers and providing tax incentives to those who do'.

The committee believes the best system would use digital maps with speed restrictions already programmed in, working in tandem with a car's satellite navigation system.

It called on the Government to fund the development of such a map.

However, manufacturers have made it clear to Fleet News they are worried that they would be legally liable if such equipment failed and drivers were banned for speeding or caused an accident.

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