Expert calling for speed limiters

E92

prendy wrote:

.....
i bet alot of people said this about smoking outside, random breath tests etc!

Indeed thats the danger, speed limiters in cars must NEVER be allowed to happen.

But I know that it will eventually.

If I want electronics to do the job I'm supposed to do, whats the point in learning how to drive.

People will never learn how to handle their vehicles properly if they are artificially limited to certain speed.

I'm beginning to fear that the nanny state is stepping up a gear......

Isn't one of the benefits of democracy that we can do what we want, we have freedom, individual liberties etc?

Its like we're going towards a dictatorship with the notion of speed limiters in our cars.

We already have really slow speed limits like only 100 km/h on roads that are essentially Motorways(those HQDC things), only 120 km/h on actual motorways.

In Germany the Autobahns which have no speed limits no more dangerous than those with a speed limit. This startling piece of information was actually revealed by the German Government back in 2005. The average speed travelled on the Autobahns with no speed limit is 150 km/h. A limited Autobahn will have a limit of 120 or 130 km/h.

Now, it is true to say that speed limits were introduced on German Autobahns because some parts were accident blackspots.

However the real reason why speed limits were introduced is because of enviornmental pressures, because the roads were getting very busy so it was impossible to go faster than the speed limit, and because of the noise pollution from high speed driving.

So nothing to do with safety then.

The UK's very own Department for Transport has studys shown where speed is only responsible for 5% of road deaths. And this is in a country full of those dreaded speed cameras.

That means we are focusing on something that makes absolutely no difference whatsoever to road safety on roads designed for high speed motoring, and on something that makes only a 5% difference on all roads in general.

Why not focus on whats causing the other 95% of deaths on the roads?

E92

KlondikePaddy wrote:

Forgot to say-yes limit the speed on all cars lorries etc except emergency vehicles.

All vechicles bar cars and vans are already speed limited. Its an EU regulation.

Apparantly vans will be fitted with speed limiters soon, because apparantly some vans are very quick these days and people are driving them as fast as they would drive a car, but of course Physics dictates that because thaey are a much higher vehicle, and have a higher centre of gravity(than a car), they are much more suceptable to cross winds, which makes them more liable to turning over when taking corners at high speed.

Cars are effectively limited already anyway, the gentlemens agreement(which the manufactureres actually came up with themselves btw) whereby cars are electronically limited to 250 km/h should they be capable of more applies to virtually every car bar something like a Ferrari/Porsche etc(and how many of these are on our roads exactly:eek: ?)

SUVs by and large are electronically limited to 210 km/h too.(though some are to 250 km/h, and Porsche don'tr bother with this speed limiting business)

GoneShootin

What you want is thus:

If speed limit = 50, then as you pass into an area with a limi of 50, the car sets itself to max out at 50. The reverse is true on the way out of the limit area into a higher limit area.

Something like this:



The car buyer still has the choice and free will to get to the limit as quickly and as crazily as they currently do, but once they hit the limit thats the end of it. Think of is as wireless speed hotspots.

seamus

GoneShootin wrote:

The car buyer still has the choice and free will to get to the limit as quickly and as crazily as they currently do, but once they hit the limit thats the end of it. Think of is as wireless speed hotspots.

But of course then people start to think that the car can do the work for them and shure if the car says it's OK to go 80KM/H, then it must be.

The simple fact here is that no evidence has ever been presented by any safety body in this country, that exceeding the speed limit is a major cause of road deaths. They all list, "excessive" and "inappropriate" speed, never "breaking the speed limit". Speed limit enforcement is a red herring at best. An excuse to make it look like they're doing something significant.

I'm not saying that exceeding the speed limit isn't a cause of some accidents - clearly it has to be. But that picture says it all. When someone can do 80km/h legally around blind bends on roads that barely accomodate two modern cars, then we will continue to see people dying because they failed to drive appropriately for the conditions, even if they were driving legally.

Forcing people to stick to the speed limits by using electronic limiters is another blasé attempt to pander to the hysterical minority who think that people who break the speed limit are the devil's children.

I.S.T.

E92 wrote:

All vechicles bar cars and vans are already speed limited. Its an EU regulation.

What is the limiter set to for buses? I was driving on a road in Galway with a 100kmh limit at the weekend. I was doing exactly 100kmh and there was a Bus Eireann bus right up my arse. I eventually pulled over and let him pass as he was distracting me he was driving so close.

Mc-BigE

Even if the "Wonderful" Government who we allowed back into power, agreed to this speed Limiter thingy, its only a matter of time before some computer geek will plug in a laptop and remove the electronic limiter. It can already be done on the 150mph euro limiter cars, so why not these ones.

They should be concentrating on the bigger issue of drink driving by inventing an Autopilot for cars.

craichoe

IrishSpeedTraps wrote:

What is the limiter set to for buses? I was driving on a road in Galway with a 100kmh limit at the weekend. I was doing exactly 100kmh and there was a Bus Eireann bus right up my arse. I eventually pulled over and let him pass as he was distracting me he was driving so close.

Haha .. yeah .. a Bus Eireann bus hammered past me on the ballincollig bypass .. i was doing 100kph on the dot and he went past me like i was standing still

E92

IrishSpeedTraps wrote:

What is the limiter set to for buses?

Haven't a clue. Of course just because its an EU requirement doesn't mean it won't be enforced. I'm sure that speed limiters are "altered" from time to time. Its not just car enthusiasts that like to remove speed limiters I'm sure.

The limit for trucks is 90 km/h. The limit for Motorbikes is 300 km/h.

The speed limit for all Commerical vehicles(excluding vans) is 80 km/h anyway. I presume buses have a limit of 80 km/h too. Incidentally its also the speed limit for cars towing something is 80 km/h.

And obviously if there is a limit lower than 80 km/h, then that must by obeyed in lieu of the general 80 km/h limit.

Blitzkrieger

E92 wrote:

All vechicles bar cars and vans are already speed limited. Its an EU regulation.

I also forgot to mention - the top speed limiter on my car almost killed me before I got it removed. I was rounding a corner on the Nordshcleife and hit 136mph when the ECU backed off all the power. This unbalanced the car and the back end started coming out, almost sending me spinning towards the crash barrier. Frustrating knowing there was more in the engine and I couldn't go faster - especially as I was against the clock.

I can imagine situations where it could happend on the road but I don't know how likely it would be.....

farva

Blitzkrieger wrote:

I also forgot to mention - the top speed limiter on my car almost killed me before I got it removed. I was rounding a corner on the Nordshcleife and hit 136mph when the ECU backed off all the power. This unbalanced the car and the back end started coming out, almost sending me spinning towards the crash barrier. Frustrating knowing there was more in the engine and I couldn't go faster - especially as I was against the clock.

I can imagine situations where it could happend on the road but I don't know how likely it would be.....

Very good point, your example is a bit of an extreme but in principle you're right.

Imagine going along a fairly windy wet country road in a rear wheel drive car (say 200+bhp...maybe not even!) in a low gear at fairly high revs with half worn / cheap tyres. Your taking a corner at 80km/h and then suddenly the speed limit drops to 50km/h and your ECU cuts the power to the driving wheels...you're gauranteed to be heading towards the ditch sideways!!

GoneShootin

I think "suddenly drops" would be a bit extreme. When entering a new limit there would have to be a gradual drop in speed.

cyclopath2001

seamus wrote:

Imagine if they banned the sale and use of all knives just to prevent knife murders.

You mean like in S.I. No. 66/1991 — Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990 (Offensive Weapons) Order, 1991.?

Far more people are killed as a result of speeding than knife murders.

MrPudding

cyclopath2001 wrote:

You mean like in S.I. No. 66/1991 — Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990 (Offensive Weapons) Order, 1991.?

Far more people are killed as a result of speeding than knife murders.

What! Kitchen knives are banned?

MrP