ALL NEW VEHICLES across the EU should be fitted with speed monitoring devices, according to an Irish MEP.

Nessa Childers is today submitting a request to the European Commission that legislation be introduced to make the devices mandatory in all new cars. She said that the monitors would emit a beeping sound when the driver is exceeding the speed limit on any given road. She said:

It would be a simple device which would annoy the driver enough to make sure speed is reduced to stop the beeping sound.

Speeding is still a key factor in about 30 per cent of fatal EU road accidents. Some 40-50 per cent of European drivers drive faster than the recommended speed limit and 10-20 per cent exceed the limit by more than 10km/h.

In 2003, car insurance provider Axa launched a pilot scheme called Traksure. Under the scheme, young drivers could secure discounts of up to 40 per cent off their premiums over a three-year period in return for allowing a speed monitoring device to be fitted to their car. The monitoring was to “identify and reward” drivers who drove within the speed limit.

The Professional Insurance Brokers’ Association of Ireland told TheJournal.ie that Axa had since discontinued the Traksure scheme and there was not a similar speed monitoring discount scheme on offer from insurance companies in Ireland at the moment.

Axa Ireland has not yet replied to enquiries about why the Traksure scheme was discontinued.