A new parliamentary report has argued that Britain is likely to miss out on a 'smart car' revolution because of a lack of government awareness on the technology. The lack of a plan to exploit technologies could cause the UK to miss out on chances to help improve road safety, cut down pollution and even create new jobs. The six-month investigation _ carried out by MPs _ is likely to be seized upon by road safety campaigners and technology firms, both of whom will want road safety, the increase in road deaths and under-investment in local roads to become election issues. 'Motoring of the Future' was published by the Transport Select Committee, and called for a far greater use of telematic technology _ that is, data from performance stats on fuel economy, speed and movement information being transmitted digitally to both insurers and manufacturers.æ Such technology is currently used by both luxury car makers as well as Formula One racing teams. The report also warned that even where telematics technology is used, drivers are often unaware, and that the insurance industry as it stands is reluctant to make their data available to both road safety experts and campaigners. Kenny Leitch, telematics director at insurance firm RSA, said that the technology was so far having a 'profound' impact and that it was important for the Government to put 'the right regulatory framework' in place to ensure road users benefitted from it. The report also highlighted the lack of a central government policy designed to make use of other modern technologies such as radar-guided cruise control, automatic emergency braking and stability systems _ all of which could help to reduce emissions and cut the number of deaths on Britain's roads.
