Display To Showcase Road Safety Technology

Illawarra Mercury

Thursday July 3, 2008

By GREG ELLIS

ILLAWARRA residents can see some of the newest road safety technology - and its potential to save lives - at the Wollongong Innovation Campus' iC Central building today.

The Driving Innovation for Safety's Sake demonstration, from 5pm, will involve NSW Centre for Road Safety technology principal John Wall showing some road safety technologies being developed in Australia.

The Illawarra Innovation Showcase event coincides with the NSW Centre for Road Safety's launch of a national road safety trial in the Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama local government areas. It involves 100 cars being fitted with global positioning system satellites and other devices, to help motorists stay safe on the road.

Mr Wall said the Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) project trial would cost $1 million, but it was considered money well spent because speeding was recognised as the biggest killer on our roads.

He said it was thought the technology being trialled in the Illawarra had the potential to help cut the road toll and save lives.

Speeding is considered to be a factor in about 40 per cent of all fatal crashes in NSW.

Last year 139 people died on NSW roads because of speed.

The ISA system uses satellites and in-car technology to help motorists stay within the speed limit.

Speed zone maps being used in the trial were developed by the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) and are said to be more accurate than those used in vehicle-based satellite navigation systems.

RTA road safety officers have identified 2500km of roads, 4000 speed signs and mapped out 950 speed zones in the Illawarra for the trial.

The in-car ISA device, similar to a palm pilot or smart phone, alerts the driver to the speed limit where they are driving and warns them if they need to slow down.

The technology also has the capacity to slow a vehicle's speed, by safely decreasing the supply of fuel to the engine.

Forty of the trial vehicles are to be fitted with this system.

The 100 vehicles in the trial come from businesses and service providers including R E McMahon Plumbing, the University of Wollongong and Centacare Welfare Services.

Apart from lowering the risk of a speed-related crash the other direct benefit is expected to be the reduced risk of speeding fines.

The trial will last 18 months.

Further information about today's demonstration is available by phoning 4221 5115.