Britain Fights EU's 'Big Brother' Bid - Article Example

Britain Fights EU's 'Big Brother' BidAnalysisThe article “Britain fights EU's 'Big Brother' bid to fit every car with speed limiter” (Owen, 31 August 2013) was written by Glen Owen and published in the Daily Mail on 31 August 2013. The main points in the article is the proposition by European Union through the European Commission to fit each car with a speed limiter that has a camera that read roads signs and a satellite that communicates speed limits to the driver (Owen, 31 August 2013).

An alarm then goes off when the limit is breached for the advice option, the driver uses an arrest to slow down and has an option of disabling the device or the third option is mandatory, where in no way can the driver be allowed to exceed the speed limit. The aim of the Intelligent Speed Adaptation technology (ISA) is reducing accident death tolls by a third but according to Mr McLoughlin, UK Transport Secretary, comparing UK road deaths of 1754 deaths to 3,645, and 3,657 deaths in France and Germany respectively, UK has lowest death rates from road carnage in Europe.

After being briefed that newly, designed vehicles will have camera and satellite systems allowing for easy and cheap addition of speed limiters, Mr McLoughlin instructed his officials to block the move terming it as a violation of British motorist’s freedom. According to AA the new technology is poised to create dangers at lower speeds especially when there is a requirement to accelerate and the speed is limited resulting in an avoidable collision but believes audible speed alerts would work (Owen, 31 August 2013).

EC reports that ISA and other issues will be published by the commission in a document in the autumn according to its mandate by member states and that there are ongoing consultation on the speed limiters. Evaluation The research in the article is exemplary done owing to the reporting of the views of the different stakeholders on the introduction of ISA and this has a relation to the course material since it deals with a transportation policy issue aimed at implementation in the UK and Europe limiting driving beyond set speeds.

The exemplary sections in the article are the workings of the Intelligent Speed Adaptation technology (ISA) that is well explained in the article allowing for a clear concise understanding by the reader. The appropriate data presented in the article include the death toll rates from accidents in the European Union to which the Intelligent Speed Adaptation technology (ISA) is poised to reduce by a third and those in United Kingdom, France, and Germany that are given for comparison purposes. The article clearly reports that the result was a clear rejection by the UK transport minister of the planned implementation of Intelligent Speed Adaptation technology (ISA) in UK and clearly gives his reasons for the rejection.

This is a good study due to the consideration of the statistics on road safety in different member states, different stakeholder views, and the conclusion is based on this information. The subject of the article is applicable to a transport organization that uses road transport as it affects the ability of cars to travel at speeds beyond the stated limits if the policy is implemented in the United Kingdom. This would result in high transportation costs, long travel times, and a reduction in revenue for the transportation organization.

ReferenceOwen, G. (31 August 2013). Britain fights EU's 'Big Brother' bid to fit every car with speed limiter. Daily Mail.