Potential for in-car speed assistance systems: results of a large-scale survey in Belgium and the Netherlands

Speeding is generally considered to be a major cause of road traffic accidents. In-car speed assistance systems aim at reducing speeding. Several trials with different types of in-car speed assistance systems, in particular intelligent speed assistance (ISA), have shown that ISA can be an effective way to reduce speeding. A basic condition for achieving significant improvements in safety involves the adaptation of ISA among vehicle drivers on a large scale. This study focuses on the issue of acceptability of ISA. It is based on a large-scale survey of 6370 individuals in Belgium (Flanders region) and 1158 persons in the Netherlands. The respondents indicated that they believed that their own driving behaviour is of great influence on accidents and traffic safety, and that contextual issues like infrastructure or other drivers are less important. Almost 95% of the respondents are in favour of ISA: seven out of ten drivers state that they want to have some informative or warning system. Three out of ten drivers even wanted to go further; they indicated a preference for a restricting type of ISA. However, drivers would only choose for more restricting systems if the penetration rates of such systems in the vehicle market were high enough.