Renault slows down learner drivers with new speed-restricted Clio

PARIS: Renault has launched a new road safety campaign which includes a limited-speed Clio city car model for young drivers.

The co-called "safety car", which is initially for the French market only, features a modified engine management system which limits the Clio's maximum speed to 110kph.

Once activated, the driver can still set the cruise control or speed limiter, but without exceeding 110kph.

Once young drivers gain more experience, the regulator can be re-programmed by a Renault dealer.

According to Renault, drivers in France under the age of 35 are involved in 52% of fatal accidents because they drive too fast. The figures relate to journeys on highways between 2019 and 2023.

Experts point to recent studies indicating that the tendency of adolescents to take risks results from a difference in maturity between two major regions of the brain.

On the one hand, the limbic system, which gives rise to emotions and quickly reaches a very active stage after puberty, and, on the other, the pre-frontal cortex, involved in judgment and impulse control but which only reaches maturity later. This latter region undergoes major changes at least until the age of 20, Renault quoted experts as saying.

"We can't change the brains of young drivers, but we can offer them a vehicle that limits the risks," said a Renault statement.