Under new European Union regulations, Intelligent Speed Assist features are now mandatory on all new cars sold in the EU, meaning that the latest models must have a speed limiter.  

The new feature means a car will always be aware of the road speed limit through either cameras that read road signs, or GPS data. If a driver exceeds the limit they will be warned to slow down. This is done differently in cars from different manufacturers. It may be an audible warning such as a bleep or buzz, steering wheel vibration, like lane keep assist, or counter force on the accelerator. 

Two key points to make are that as of present the car will not limit speed by applying the brakes and the system can be manually overridden or turned off. New cars will though always default to the system-on position when you start the vehicle.  

The idea of the regulations is to cut the number of deaths due to speed related accidents. Critics however, are arguing that this is a slippery road to “big brother” type control of vehicles.