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London cab & bus trials for satnav speed-governor kit

'Satellites will turn us all into ZOMBIES!'

"Remember, there's no such thing as a safe zombie."

It might still be annoying to drivers, however, though at the moment there's no suggestion of ISA ever being compulsory for private motorists. Nonetheless, most London drivers would be affected by buses, cabs or other fleet vehicles fitted with ISA ahead of them.

Universally-fitted ISA might actually be popular with some drivers, as it could allow the removal of extremely irritating speed bumps and chicanes - without any need for a surveillance-panopticon numberplate-cam speed enforcement network as suggested by erstwhile London mayor Ken Livingstone.

According to Andrew Howard, safety honcho at the AA: “Drivers are divided in their views of intelligent speed adaptation - some hate it, some want it. Many have questions that will be answered only by trials like those being carried out by TfL.

“The AA welcomes these trials."

The anti-speedcam group Safe Speed predictably came out strongly against ISA, issuing a statement saying (verbatim):

With ISA ordinary motorists will turn into zombies with their foot planted to the floor, trusting the satellite to control their speed. They will not be as ready to deal road hazards. They will behave like zombies...

Problems like it resetting itself, leaving motorists in neutral, or slowing during in an overtake, as it changed from one posted limit to the next, leaving the car behind, nearly rear ending the car in front, making all road users, and drivers vulnerable to it's 'intelligence' systems, and making for highly dangerous maneuvers

Making cars go slower will not help with congestion, but add to it. Nor will turning drivers into 'zombies', make them have less accidents, but more.

Satellite speed control is anything but intelligent. Remember there is no such thing as a safe zombie...

Reduced traffic speeds DO NOT give drivers more time to react.

There's more on ISA from TfL here, including a downloadable London speed-limit map and developer details for satnav systems and GIS apps. Those with compatible satnavs can try out ISA code as beta testers, too. ®

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