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Speed limiters for all new cars

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:24 am
by John-B
Will mandatory speed limiters help reduce accidents, improve traffic flow, etc.?
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motori ... -limiters/
"To make the move more popular, the ETSC proposes an on/off switch to be included at first, which would allow the system to be overridden by pushing hard on the accelerator.

This override would allow motorists to speed up should circumstances need it, and could mean that stricter rules could be introduced in the future.

The ETSC also suggests that “if the driver continues to drive above the speed limit for several seconds, the system should sound a warning for a few seconds and display a visual warning until the vehicle is operating at or below the speed limit again.”

Re: Speed limiters for all new cars

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:49 am
by Sydsmith
When I heard that on the radio this morning John I though just one thing, older cars that do not have the device will be worth more when the device is adopted, just as the value of none MOT cars moved upwards when that regulation changed.

Boy racers are going to love older high performance cars without the device.

Getting back to the effect. All new trucks have been fitted with a 56 mph limiter for some time and whilst it is a pain when you come up behind one on a narrow main road, it does work and you no longer see 44 ton trucks recklessly tramping along at 60-70 on narrow roads.

In my part of the UK, much of the road network is narrow and difficult to overtake on. Often the only way to get past a slow moving vehicle is to exceed the limit for a short moment when the road is clear in a speed limited area. Syd

Re: Speed limiters for all new cars

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:54 am
by Phillmore
Or is it more about reducing crime? No more villains escaping the Old Bill (assuming emergency vehicles won't be restricted)!

Re: Speed limiters for all new cars

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:58 am
by John-B
I think it depends on what speed limit is being tied to. Traffic on motorways seems to move in all lanes at over 80mph, so I can see some advantage of speed restrictors there.

The North Circular in London has narrow lanes and traffic races along with wing mirrors nearly touching. Concentration has to be intense. I don't remember what the speed limit is, it's probably 40 or 50mph, but the traffic goes in a tight formation at over 60mph sometimes.

The town speed limits create another problem. There's a place in Salisbury where traffic comes downhill off a 40 mph dual carriageway around a sharp corner under a bridge into a 20mph zone immediately. Traffic slows down sharply and cars waiting at a junction on the left can think that you are going to turn left and pull out in front of you. I've been surprised several times and so has the other driver. 20mph is so slow that other traffic and pedestrians take advantage of the traffic's slow speed. I'm not sure if other drivers feel the same, but I start looking in shop windows at such a slow speed. If traffic is limited to 20mph on some town or village roads it will be so slow it will cause traffic to build up.

Re: Speed limiters for all new cars

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 9:32 am
by Vortex O'Plinth
Many cars already have their top speed limited. Most BMW and Mercedes for example are electronically limited to a maximum of 155 mph. This restriction is a characteristic of the ECU 'map'. There are firms who will remap your car to remove this restriction. Any speed restriction to ensure compliance with local limits will almost certainly be electronic in nature and inevitably open to removal. As fast as automotive technology advances so does a 'counter technology', the current situation with many modern 'keyless entry' vehicles being vulnerable to theft being an example.

Obviously the restriction will be checked on MoT for example, but there are already remaps that are very simply reversible for inspection or warranty claims. I suspect that any future blanket speed restriction will give a very significant boost to the vehicle remap market. That fact that the system will include data loggers to ensure activation is unlikely to be a major obstacle to a determined remapper.

Re: Speed limiters for all new cars

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 9:39 am
by John-B
Vortex O'Plinth wrote: Wed Mar 27, 2019 9:32 am There are firms who will remap your car to remove this restriction. Any speed restriction to ensure compliance with local limits will almost certainly be electronic in nature and inevitably open to removal.
Assuming most cars don't have the limiter deleted, it will still help on motorways where all lanes will go at 70mph because the majority of cars will still have limiters and block cars which have had it deleted.

Re: Speed limiters for all new cars

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 10:30 am
by Vortex O'Plinth
John-B wrote: Wed Mar 27, 2019 9:39 am
Vortex O'Plinth wrote: Wed Mar 27, 2019 9:32 am There are firms who will remap your car to remove this restriction. Any speed restriction to ensure compliance with local limits will almost certainly be electronic in nature and inevitably open to removal.
Assuming most cars don't have the limiter deleted, it will still help on motorways where all lanes will go at 70mph because the majority of cars will still have limiters and block cars which have had it deleted.
I agree John; I'm sure that the majority of new car buyers will happily accept the restriction and that the aim of the legislation to reduce accidents will almost certainly be realised. However the all too common situation of finding yourself in the overtaking lane at 70mph with a frustrated Audi driver 3" from your rear bumper is unlikely to be reduced.

Re: Speed limiters for all new cars

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 4:36 pm
by A.N.Other
It sounds like an idea floated by think tanks that don’t really know what they are talking about but want to rule the world in there own little way and believe it’s all for the good of mankind.
Speed is not the killer. Crap driving is. Speed should be assessed constantly while driving and the conditions accounted for. 40MPH through motorway road works at 7.00am on a Sunday morning is pathetic. Do it at 50MPH though and you are criminalised. If a road has a clearway sign it does not mean drive as fast as your car will go, It means drive to the condition faced safely.
Lack of driver training is the route of all evil. The fact that it is possible to pass a test at 17 and then drive until you are infirm with no refreshers or periodic tests is frankly beyond belief.
A suggestion to remove the unlimited speed areas on German autobahns was floated a few years ago. The car manufacturers stuck together and told the government that they would not back the idea. It was quashed as soon as it was floated.

Re: Speed limiters for all new cars

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 5:17 pm
by Sydsmith
Nicks point about re-mapping is a good one, especially given the way crooks have overcome keyless car security, would not be five minutes before the mapping was cracked.

A chap on lunchtime news today commenting that electronic control should never take over control of a car and he would never use cruise control for that reason. Frankly the cruise control has been my saving grace many times. In a modern motor, 30 mph is a doddle and difficult to maintain without cruise control, I have got into the habit of clicking it in at every speed restriction. On a motorway it is a great asset, my Mercedes ML is just toddling along at 70 and it is so easy to drift up to 80-90 without even knowing it.

Big Col says that poor driving is to blame and that has to be the case. The real problem is that poor drivers are poor drivers, some folks just are not made to drive but keep on trying. When I was in business we had a fleet of vans allocated to specific drivers, all in the age group 25-70. It was always the same drivers who had damage problems, always the same drivers that got parking and speeding tickets, always the same drivers that had complaints made about their driving. Age did not matter, the young were just as liable to have problems as the old. Syd

Re: Speed limiters for all new cars

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 9:11 pm
by NickDeAth
Call me cynical if you like, it'll never happen. The government can't afford to lose the huge volume of revenue from speeding fines, and the added drawback of all those people who process the fines and paperwork being made redundant.

Nick