Technology to drive revolution in road safety

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/grap.../ncar10big.gif

Technology to drive revolution in road safety

London Telegraph/David Millward | October 10 2005

CLICK TO ENLARGE

An array of technology is being developed across Europe that will radically change the way in which road safety laws are enforced.

Motorists who already regard speed cameras as evidence of the encroachment of the Big Brother state should brace themselves for devices that will not only tell police how they drive, but make legal retribution swifter.

Several of the initiatives already up and running in countries from Sweden to Italy are being monitored by the Department of Transport as it looks for a 40 per cent cut in the number of deaths and serious injuries on Britain's roads by 2010.

From a black box in the boot to "alcolocks" on the dashboard, the car of the future is likely to be crammed with equipment designed to keep drunken drivers away from the wheel and slow down speeders.

Motorists should brace themselves for more roadside cameras that will catch drivers who tail gate or do not put on their seat belt.

Police cars will also be better equipped to mete out justice. Twenty-three forces are already equipped with automatic number plate recognition systems, cameras that can instantly recognise a car and within seconds establish whether it is taxed and has an MoT test certificate.

Within the next few months it will also be linked to a motor insurance database, enabling officers to catch uninsured drivers instantly.

More than likely the officer will be equipped with some form of handheld computer, linked to the internet. The driving licence which will be inspected by the officer could well be a biometric smart card - on which endorsements and other personal information would be stored on a chip.

It could also contain iris recognition or fingerprint data if it is combined with a national identity card. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, which is seeking 10,000 volunteers to participate in a trial of the licences, has started talks with the passport agency over integrating the data on a combined document.

Some other initiatives are under way abroad. The Dutch and Israelis have started testing cameras designed to identify motorists who tail-gate.

The Department of Transport said it had "no plans" to follow suit, but existing roadside cameras can already pick up motorists driving dangerously close to the car in front, enabling the police to intervene.

Another Dutch initiative - cameras that can identify a motorist driving without a seat belt - is being "watched with interest" by the department. It is equally interested in an Italian experiment to crack down on illegal overtaking. This entails placing sensors in the middle of the road which are linked to roadside cameras. If a motorist tries to overtake illegally, by crossing double white lines, the offence is picked up and recorded.

Alcolocks, a device that stops a car starting if the driver is over the legal limit, have been fitted to 6,000 cars in Sweden. The motorist has to breathe into a tube and the ignition will not start unless the reading is below the drink-drive limit. The Road Safety Bill currently before Parliament gives motorists the opportunity to cut a long driving ban if they agree to have one fitted to their car.

"Black boxes" - electronic data recorders - are already being used by Norwich Union as part of its "pay as you drive" motor insurance scheme. The Government believes that they could also be used to provide information about how a car was driven in the moments leading up to a crash.