Speed limiters

[TRUCKER]

I see that a goverment report is recommending fitting speed limiting devices on cars. I think that it is a good idea.there is far to many cars that run about going to fast .it works using satellite positioning so if you go over 30 in a 30 zone it will reduce the power or apply the brakes. What are peoples view on this.

[ShelleyCowie]

I see that a goverment report is recommending fitting speed limiting devices on cars. I think that it is a good idea.there is far to many cars that run about going to fast .it works using satellite positioning so if you go over 30 in a 30 zone it will reduce the power or apply the brakes. What are peoples view on this.

Wow its about time they took some very drastic action on this! Speeding kills, fair enough when people pass their test it is their own responsibility to know how fast to go in whatever zones! Not make up their own rules! but i suppose you can never catch everyone!

But that is an ace idea! It will prevent crime and practically wasting court times on charges that people should not even be commiting! And doesnt driving slightly slower reduce the amount of petrol/diesel burned?? (please correct me if im wrong cos im kinda clueless there)

[Errogie]

Petrolheads will protest that their human rights to drive as fast as they think they are capable of doing will be enfringed.

A good thing to question why is it always necessary to human happiness to have continual year on year economic growth and faster roads. Slow down and smell the heather, better still get a bike!

[camor]

One of the worst road safety ideas I have ever heard. This could be a very dangerous item if fitted. Imagine overtaking a slow moving vehicle and this unit kicks in, where do you go then. They should concentrate in lowering speed limits in built up areas. Having a more substantial driving training programme with assessments, similar to the one in Finland which includes skid pan sessions etc would be better. Speed limits outwith built up areas should be re-assessed. Cars now, whilst they do have greater performance, have far more safety features fitted, larger brakes, better tyres etc. Better awareness. not only for young drivers, I see plenty drivers that are no spring chickens carrying out rediculas manouvres. There should be penalties for slow moving drivers as this can cause as many accidents through frustration as speeding does.

[Nibbler]

One of the worst road safety ideas I have ever heard. This could be a very dangerous item if fitted. Imagine overtaking a slow moving vehicle and this unit kicks in, where do you go then. They should concentrate in lowering speed limits in built up areas. Having a more substantial driving training programme with assessments, similar to the one in Finland which includes skid pan sessions etc would be better. Speed limits outwith built up areas should be re-assessed. Cars now, whilst they do have greater performance, have far more safety features fitted, larger brakes, better tyres etc. Better awareness. not only for young drivers, I see plenty drivers that are no spring chickens carrying out rediculas manouvres. There should be penalties for slow moving drivers as this can cause as many accidents through frustration as speeding does.


Camor has very good points here (some I was thinking of too).

In principle, it sounds like a solution, but in reality (and if put into practice) I believe it may cause more issues than it solves.

Also, who is footing the bill? Will we be expected to pay for having these devices fitted??

I am not against this as I do believe there are some people out there who drive too fast (also, some that drive way too slow) but, to have outside control over a car and the speed it is going at - nope, in the long run, this probably will not work.

Its the drivers behind the wheel that need to be controlled/educated.

[Shabbychic]

I'm all for road safety and speed limits, but I feel this may be a step too far. It screams of another case of Big Brother is watching and controlling our lives.

I'm also not sure how it would work in practice. Would you be able to overtake a caravan or tractor, or be stuck behind them for miles? Also, what would happen if the system developed a glitch, would the whole country come to a standstill?

It certainly sounds like a great idea considering all the bad drivers out there, but I'm not really sure it is practical

[butterfly]

trucker,would this apply to police cars cause they seem to knock down a lot of people when they are chasing other vehicles:roll:

[bekisman]

Having just come back from Germany with a couple of thousand KM's on their Autobahns; bit concerning at first, pulling into the 'fast' lane with nothing behind, then a few seconds later a BMW is up your bum.. however the 'speeding kills' does not hold with this German road *.. however as mention in posts above having a limiter that kicks in when, for example the car in front is a bit below the speed limit, how do you overtake? run alongside for a mile or two; blocking others? (as some trucks do on the duel sections of the A9)?


*Accident rates
Despite the prevailing high speeds, the accident, injury and death rates on the Autobahn are remarkably low. The Autobahn carries about a third of all Germany's traffic, but injury accidents on the Autobahn account for only 6% of such accidents nationwide and less than 12% of all traffic fatalities were the result of Autobahn crashes (2004). In fact, the annual fatality rate (3.2 per billion km in 2004) is consistently lower than that of most other superhighway systems, including the US Interstates (5.0 in 2003).

[brandy]

yet it could also cut down on speed related accidents when people are flying down country roads at a 100 mph. its one thing driving on a motor way, but people drive at ridiculous speeds on the roads with bends and blind curves.

[teenybash]

Since the car industry is declining, along with everythingelse, is this not the time to stop the manufacture of cars that can do excessive speeds to what is allowed on our roads. Reduce the horse power.......

[Kathy@watten]

This may be going off ina slight tangent..but why don't folk have to pass a test like the ones bikers do to upgrade their car license? I think all 17 year old drivers should be made to drive in custard cream coloured metro 1L models for minimum of 2 winters and have a restriction on music levels and passengers...untill they gain a good grasp of being in control of a vehicle and being responsible for their actions behind the wheel. They could then upgrade their license to the next size up etc etc and should you have a speed/careless accident be back graded!, not that I have spent too long thinking about this subject! you need to pass quite stringent contitions to have and use a firearm and if you abuse or are thought to be at risk of abusing this the rights to have and use are revoked......a car driven by someone out of control can and regularly does cause death and damage to folk, high time something was done!

[Kodiak]

One of the worst road safety ideas I have ever heard. This could be a very dangerous item if fitted. Imagine overtaking a slow moving vehicle and this unit kicks in, where do you go then.


The way this system works is that if you have to go faster than the speed limit for any reason, ie to overtake or to get out of reouble. Then there would be a button on ther steering wheel which over rides the limiter. This way you can safely go faster if and when you might requre to. So what you describe should not happen.

I still am not in favour of this and at present it is thought if brought in it will be on a Volunteer Basis Only and not compulsary. The way the system works is by GPS system so that your position is always being monitored. As I do not want to be monitored every second I am driving I do ot like this idea at all. Not because I want to speed but because it is definately being watched all the time by Big Brother.

[Bad Manners]

Wonderful in theory but there are so many problems trying to impliment this it won't work.
At the moment we can drive where we like when we like and should be observing the road signs. As soon as we let the goverment have control over our cars we loose a large chunk of our freedom.
I am all for enforcing more stringent measures to catch speeder and other law breakers but not at the expence of our freedom to roam.
The police could do more to stop speeders they could be fined more and they could even have their licence revoked. Insurance companies could also help by raising the cost of insurance for drivers how have been caught speeding just like they do for drunk drivers.

[Dadie]

Kathy are you going for the custard coloured metro again?

After your last mishap....

Never thought dads old subaru would ever be killed !

[percy toboggan]

This sounds like 'Driving for Numpty's'

We really are turning into a bunch of pre-programmed automatons where technology is being allowed to dominate our lives.

If you don't stick to the limt on a regular basis and are caught then let's have stiffer penalties.
Let's also have some of the 1,500 missing patrol cars back on our roads...instead of cameras.

This daft idea is a precursor to wholesale road pricing.

Speed limiters on HGV's are fine when just related to motorway top speed but to extend it to cars and all vehicles in urban areas is wrong.
Does no-one else think this a sinister intrusion too far?

[EDDIE]

I see that a goverment report is recommending fitting speed limiting devices on cars. I think that it is a good idea.there is far to many cars that run about going to fast .it works using satellite positioning so if you go over 30 in a 30 zone it will reduce the power or apply the brakes. What are peoples view on this.

The technolgy is already there to do it is a good idea but the only downside is thats big brother is watching over u more if u ever had an accident they could use that information against you.And also this could be the start of having a box in your car that could also be caplable of charging u congestion charges.
I wonder if this means we will get big reduction on your insurance?

[weeboyagee]

Heaven forbid that we end up having to be controlled in this manner. I can't remember the last time that a tail back didn't appear behind me doing 60 mph. The black car I have is frequently passed by a big black 4 x 4 that I can't think ever drives at less than 80 mph on the Caithness roads.

I think that we look too much to blame the youth for speeding when most that pass me on the road are double their age and driving big powerful cars that only their age and driving experience manages to allow them to afford the insurance!

Camor's post was an excellent one. Well done. Big brother controlling the cars and the roads and getting from A to B - to many "what if's" methinks. Responsibility to drive responsibly - old and young - fast and slow. The amount of times I have been "done" for speeding years ago meant that I didn't have a clean license for many years - long time ago now though. But how many people tell me - including well respected, normal law abiding people within our community have had a lapse in thinking and landed up with the £60 and 3 penalty points. This is not a justification for bringing in the scheme mentioned in this thread in as much as the people paying the fines and receiving the points are not any more likely to have caused a death or accident by their moment of,.... well c'mon then - who all on here don't have a clean license?

WBG :cool:

[Alice in Blunderland]

Heaven forbid that we end up having to be controlled in this manner. I can't remember the last time that a tail back didn't appear behind me doing 60 mph. The black car I have is frequently passed by a big black 4 x 4 that I can't think ever drives at less than 80 mph on the Caithness roads.

I think that we look too much to blame the youth for speeding when most that pass me on the road are double their age and driving big powerful cars that only their age and driving experience manages to allow them to afford the insurance!

Camor's post was an excellent one. Well done. Big brother controlling the cars and the roads and getting from A to B - to many "what if's" methinks. Responsibility to drive responsibly - old and young - fast and slow. The amount of times I have been "done" for speeding years ago meant that I didn't have a clean license for many years - long time ago now though. But how many people tell me - including well respected, normal law abiding people within our community have had a lapse in thinking and landed up with the £60 and 3 penalty points. This is not a justification for bringing in the scheme mentioned in this thread in as much as the people paying the fines and receiving the points are not any more likely to have caused a death or accident by their moment of,.... well c'mon then - who all on here don't have a clean license?

WBG :cool:

Woohoo Weeboyagee heaven forbid that any future car you bought had a speed restrictor on it. ;)

I agree though its unworkable and may in fact cause more problems than its thought to solve.

[Tighsonas4]

some years ago bt vans were all governed to 50 mph until it was taken up by the union and as already said it was because of the danger angle and it was successful tony

[rockchick]

I am driving a car that has an optional speed restrictor on it, where I can punch in the highest speed the car can go, and no matter how hard I press on the accelerator, it will not exceed that limit. While I appreciate that this isn't quite the same as the limit being controlled from outside by the posted speed limit, it has been an eye-opener in that it is very relaxing not having to worry about whether I'm going to be flashed by a speed camera, and can focus on the business of driving. Overtaking? Yes, you can...as long as you have a safe distance in which to complete the manoeuver.

If these devices were fitted on ALL cars, then all cars would be limited to the same speed limit, so tail-backs would be limited to those odd drivers that are driving far below the speed limit. If anyone has been on the motorway when they're doing roadworks and where they have those speed-averaging cameras limiting the speed to 50mph...all the cars are going the same speed, they don't bunch up, they just continue along.

When you cannot speed, you become much less agressive in your driving, and just focus on getting from point A to point B. It isn't a bad idea, IMHO.

[eric pollard]

they shouldnt be allowed as its older drivers that cause more accidents than younger drivers by going far to slow (statistics show) but hey just blame the young driver as its an easy way out !!!!!!! same as police cant chase real crime as that would involve getting off there back sides and having to do something so its easier to pester the motorist !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Alice in Blunderland]

they shouldnt be allowed as its older drivers that cause more accidents than younger drivers by going far to slow (statistics show) but hey just blame the young driver as its an easy way out !!!!!!! same as police cant chase real crime as that would involve getting off there back sides and having to do something so its easier to pester the motorist !!!!!!!!!!!!

erm well let me see Ive been a driver now for mmmmm over twenty years and so far no nice tall dark handsome officer in a uniform ( swoon ) has ever pestered me. ;) ah well dream on alice :lol:

[ywindythesecond]

One of the worst road safety ideas I have ever heard. This could be a very dangerous item if fitted. Imagine overtaking a slow moving vehicle and this unit kicks in, where do you go then. They should concentrate in lowering speed limits in built up areas. Having a more substantial driving training programme with assessments, similar to the one in Finland which includes skid pan sessions etc would be better. Speed limits outwith built up areas should be re-assessed. Cars now, whilst they do have greater performance, have far more safety features fitted, larger brakes, better tyres etc. Better awareness. not only for young drivers, I see plenty drivers that are no spring chickens carrying out rediculas manouvres. There should be penalties for slow moving drivers as this can cause as many accidents through frustration as speeding does.

Agree 100%.