Organisation
University of Sheffield
Amount awarded
£195,932
Completed
2024
Uploaded to Knowledge Centre
7 February 2025
This research set out to explore the policy context that provides the background to the introduction of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) to the UK driving public (Study One), understand drivers’ perspectives and beliefs about ISA (Study Two), and design and evaluate an intervention to promote ISA adoption (Studies Three and Four).
The policy context in which ISA is being introduced
The safety potential of ISA was widely recognised across the stakeholder groups interviewed in Study One. Regulation to mandate ISA inclusion in all new vehicles was seen to require:
• Availability of an override option.
• Accurate speed maps and clear signage to support ISA to work effectively.
• Public acceptability of ISA systems.
Drivers’ perspectives and beliefs about ISA
Researchers found many of the drivers interviewed in Study Two were positive towards ISA, although they emphasised the need for an override facility to increase the acceptability of ISA and accurate speed limit detection systems to encourage its use.
The qualitative work also indicated that knowledge of ISA in the driving population may be quite limited and that road safety campaigns would be well-placed to address this knowledge gap. Survey work, guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour, identified a range of positive and negative beliefs that were related to intentions to use ISA (Study Three).
These can guide the targets of road safety campaigns to highlight key ISA strengths that drivers will appreciate and to allay concerns about perceived ISA disadvantages. Therefore, this can make campaigns more effective in encouraging individuals to choose to use ISA.
Design and evaluation of an intervention to promote ISA
In Study Four, researchers designed a leaflet and animation to address many of the beliefs identified as key to ISA adoption in Study Three. They found that the intervention was effective in modifying the targeted beliefs and that this translated into improving intentions regarding ISA, an effect that was durable over a 1 month period.
The intervention materials produced are freely available for other to use in material promoting ISA. The effectiveness of the intervention also provides encouragement that other interventions that might be designed to target the beliefs that we have identified may also be effective.
To read the full report – and access the intervention materials – visit The Road Safety Trust website: https://www.roadsafetytrust.org.uk/funded-projects/university-of-sheffield