The Department for Transport (DfT) is funding a £1.9m research project to test speed control technology in cars that could reduce accidents.

A system using GPS (global positioning satellite) and ISA (intelligent speed adaptation) technology has been developed by the University of Leeds and road research organisation Mira, which automatically keeps vehicles within the speed limit.

Eighty drivers will try out the technology in specially-adapted Skodas over the next two years. Their behaviour will be monitored to see how their driving changes when they have to keep within the speed limit.

'At the moment this is just a research project,' said a DfT spokeswoman. 'The purpose is to look at behaviour patterns and whether it alters.'

'It's too early to say what will happen. It came about in 2001 and once Leeds University and MIRA compile the results, they'll take it forward,' she said.

The DfT is optimistic the technology could reduce the number of people killed and injured on the UK's roads. The department says an earlier project concluded that an intelligent speed limiter could reduce fatal accidents by 19 per cent, and injuries by 10 per cent.

'This trial will be useful for assessing how drivers respond when the car they are in actively tells them that they are being kept to the speed limit,' said road safety minister David Jamieson. 'We will also be looking to see how drivers' behaviour changes over time.'

Twenty cars have been fitted with the technology. Each car will be driven for six months at a time before changing driver.

GPS technology will communicate with the onboard computer system to identify the speed limit. Every time the limit changes, the driver is notified and the new speed is set. If the limit is exceeded, the accelerator pedal vibrates and alerts the driver. Buttons on the steering wheel allow the driver to override the system.

Jamieson says the government is not looking to make the technology mandatory, but says it is keen to 'see what we can learn from this trial.'