Intelligent speed adaptation: accident savings and cost-benefit analysis

The UK External Vehicle Speed Control (EVSC) project has made a prediction of the accident savings with intelligent speed adaptation (ISA), and estimated the costs and benefits of national implementation. The best prediction of accident reduction was that the fitting on all vehicles of a simple mandatory system, with which it would be impossible for vehicles to exceed the speed limit, would save 20% of injury accidents and 37% of fatal accidents. A more complex version of the mandatory system, including a capability to respond to current network and weather conditions, would result in a reduction of 36% in injury accidents and 59% in fatal accidents. The implementation path recommended by the project would lead to compulsory usage in 2019. The cost-benefit analysis carried out showed that the benefit-cost ratios for this implementation strategy were in a range from 7.9 to 15.4, i.e. the payback for the system could be up to 15 times the cost of implementing and running it.