It is called Intelligent Speed Assist (Isa) and is a system for automatic detection of speed limits and intervention on the driver and the vehicle which from next July will become a mandatory presence on newly registered cars.
However, an investigation carried out by Quattroruote and published in the February issue of the monthly magazine shows that technology has to deal with widespread chaos in signage which undermines the cars' cameras and therefore the intelligent limit control systems.
Using six different car models already equipped with the ISA system on a 40 kilometer circuit made up of 40 kilometer roads open to traffic - and with differentiated road situations such as ring roads, expressways, extra-urban municipal roads, inhabited centers - the test highlighted in many situations the correct reading of the signs with the limits but they also made sensational errors.
Summing the results obtained with all six cars equipped with Isa Quattroruote recorded 28 errors in 40 kilometres, a figure that calls into question the actual maturity of the technology of these speed limit detection devices.
It should be underlined in this regard that, if the limit is exceeded, Isa emits a loud acoustic warning (similar to that of seat belts) and for those who do not slow down, a subsequent automatic intervention on the speed of the car.
The investigation reveals a disastrous state of Italian road signs.
On the test route (40 km long) 32 speed variations were in fact counted - writes Quattroruote -: on average, one signal every 1,265 metres.
In some sections, however, the 'density' of reports was even higher, reaching 4 signs with different limits in a few hundred metres, and what's more without apparent justification.
Added to this are signs that are crooked, ruined and sometimes covered by other panels but also very low limits at construction sites left on site even after the work has been completed.
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