Skip to navigation | Skip to content

Satellites to slow down speeding cars


France's notorious speedsters may face satellites next

A satellite control system that slows down speeding cars will be trialled by the French government in an attempt to tackle the country's persistently high death toll on the roads, according to news reports.

Dubbed the Self-Adapting Speed Restriction Limiter, or LIVIA under its French acronym, the system will be installed in two vehicles - a Renault and a Peugeot - to be driven on roads in the Yvelines region west of Paris from May, Le Figaro newspaper reported.

Beacons on board will allow a satellite to locate the cars according to different speed zones, and then communicate a command restricting fuel supply if they travel over the speed limit.

"The accelerator will not function after the speed limit for a given area has been reached - exactly as if you lifted your foot off the pedal yourself," said Jean-Marc Blosseville, head of the Laboratoire sur les Interactions Véhicules-Infrastructure-Conducteurs, the government research centre that developed LIVIA.

However, there will be an over-ride function as well so that a driver can slam on the speed to escape from a dangerous situation, Blosseville said.

Around 7,200 people died on French roads last year - a fall of six per cent on 2001 but still almost double the figure in Britain, which has roughly the same population. Australia, with a population less than half of that of France, suffered just over 1,700 Australians road fatalities last year.

The experiment will move into a second phase next year, when around 20 cars will be equipped with LIVIA and given to individuals to use in the western Paris outskirts, Le Figaro reported.

Tags: science-and-technology, engineering