U of MNUniversity of Minnesota
Center for Transportation Studies

Programs & Labs

Winter Luncheon

The ITS Institute sponsors the CTS Winter Luncheon, which focuses on current transportation safety and technology issues.

February 11, 2009 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

AI Johnson Room at the McNamara Alumni Center, Minneapolis U of M East Bank Campus

Intelligent Speed Adaptation: Is European Research Relevant to the United States?

Photo of Oliver Carsten

Oliver Carsten, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds

View presentation (slides included) (Mediasite Presenter, Length: 01:07:23; requires Microsoft Silverlight plugin)
View presentation (slides not include) (Flash video, Length: 01:07:23)

Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) is a driver-assistance system that brings speed limits into the vehicle. The information can be used to inform the driver of changes in the speed limit, warn the driver when the speed limit is being exceeded, and prevent speeding through a link to the vehicle drivetrain. Research in Europe on this system has been going on systematically since the mid-1990s, with field operational tests (FOTs) taking place in several countries, most recently in France and the United Kingdom.

The response to ISA in the United States has generally been “good idea but not feasible here.” So what makes it more acceptable in Europe? Has acceptance changed over time? And what would it take for ISA to become acceptable to the U.S. public? This talk covered both attitudinal and behavioral results from the FOTs, especially from the United Kingdom ISA trials. It also looked at the accident savings and environmental benefits from ISA.

About the Speaker

Oliver Carsten is a professor of transport safety with the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) at the University of Leeds. Carsten did his undergraduate studies at the University of Oxford and obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Subsequently he worked at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) for 10 years. He joined the Institute for Transport Studies in 1987.

Carsten has been project coordinator of several European projects, including HOPES, which examined the safety impacts of various field trials; VRU-TOO, which applied new technologies to improve the safety and mobility of pedestrians; HINT, which examined the human implications of new technologies; and HASTE, which has studied the effect on driving performance and safety of using in-vehicle information systems. He has led the development of the advanced driving simulator at Leeds and has directed projects to examine techniques for reducing unsafe driving on rural arterial roads and for investigating the benefits of Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA). Work on ISA includes leading the UK External Vehicle Speed Control project and the recent ISA-UK project. He has been chair of the DRIVE I safety and behavioural group, was a member of the DRIVE Safety Task Force, is chair of the Road User Behaviour Working Party of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, and is a member of the Programme Management Panel of the UK Foresight Vehicle Programme. He is the author of numerous reports and articles on traffic safety.

For more about Carsten, visit his Web page.