[Closed] Speed limiters on cars

Not before time if it's true tbh.

Finding it hard to think of a reason why not have a limiter

I think they're may be a bit of misunderstanding stemming from the clickbait articles. AFAIK they just allow the driver to set a limit. It's nothing new. My 2006 Saab had it. It just made a bloody annoying noise.
All my other cars have had them, but it consisted of using my brain and right foot. Means I don't get a stupid noise and headbutt the dash when I go on track.

I can already set a speed limiter on my car. I just prefer the turbo choo-choo noises.

Thankfully, you will be able to disable them.

Weird how people campaign for hard limiters on e-scooters and e-bikes, but the moment you tell them they can't pilot their two-tonne metal box at 50mph in a 20 zone, they get all upset.

Weird how people campaign for hard limiters on e-scooters and e-bikes, but the moment you tell them they can’t pilot their two-tonne metal box at 50mph in a 20 zone, they get all upset.

Wierd huh. Roads is dangerous but blackboxes are more of an infringement of civil liberties than the many road fatalities ...

Weird how everyone is kicking off about these scooters. They could solve so many problems.

Weird how everyone is kicking off about these scooters. They could solve so many problems.

+1

I'd love to see all the < 3mile journeys (where you don't have to carry loads of shopping) done on them, from people of all ages! Got to be better than taking a car 2.5 miles to have lunch with sally or get a haircut.

I have driven hire vehicles with one - I thought I was setting the cruise control but set a speed limit instead - the car simnply would not accelerate any more

I am all in favour of zero tolerance for bad driving - the roads would be clear of cars in a few months

those scooters are unregulated and pretty dangerous - to say nothing of being illegal in the UK

I have driven hire vehicles with one – I thought I was setting the cruise control but set a speed limit instead – the car simnply would not accelerate any more

I'd be driving that straight back to the hire company. What's the world coming to when you can't thrash a hire car?

I am all in favour of zero tolerance for bad driving – the roads would be clear of cars in a few months

Yep - given the amount of effort that they seem to be able to put into geo-fencing and speed restricting the few e-scooters that are available for hire plus the already existing speed limiters / motor cut out on e-bikes at 15mph, it's quite astonishing that cars are essentially a free-for-all.

The tech is there though to stop banned drivers, drink drivers, uninsured drivers, speeding etc at a stroke but any mention of some sort of control on driving results in complete collective meltdown.

My vans got a speed limiter built in due to aerodynamics of a brick and sod all power. TBH even if they're mandatory the type that gun it at silly speeds where they can will just get them mapped out.

those scooters are unregulated and pretty dangerous – to say nothing of being illegal in the UK

A sweeping generalisation that is wrong......they are legal and apparently safe so long as your renting them from and appointed agent.....

You can override the system by pressing hard on the accelerator...

Not really a limiter then. More of a guide..

those scooters are unregulated and pretty dangerous – to say nothing of being illegal in the UK

Cause and effect there, plus a little bit of them being below critical mass.

Currently as they are illegal they are ridden around by teenagers who don’t give a stuff, knowing that the worst that can happen is it gets confiscated.

As a responsible adult with a driving licence, I can be penalised with points and possibly a driving ban! And thus I do not have one. The moment they become legal ill get one (and, I hope, ride it responsibly) replacing a car for local journeys.

Have we all lost the ability to read?

a speed limiter allows you to accelerate and decelerate as you normally would, provided you don’t go above the speed limit you set.

I've had cars with speed limiters for maybe the last 15 years. Never felt the need to switch it on.

Seems perfectly sensible to me. I only ever hit high speeds on track days which is the appropriate place for fast driving.

Edit - although reading this it limits to 112mph? Which seems a bit pointless??

Weird how everyone is kicking off about these scooters.

It's because they're almost universally ridden by ****s with the road sense of a breeze block. It's this decade's monkey bikes.

Why is this in any way bad?

A sweeping generalisation that is wrong……they are legal and apparently safe so long as your renting them from and appointed agent…..

in one or two cities only

Current cars both have one.

I don't do speeding but I really don't like the limiter. There's something about what it does to the throttle response on a rolling motorway / dual carriageway that just makes my mechanically sensitive teeth itch (not literally).

I'd rather just watch my speed and throttle control the old fashioned way.

Round town it's an unnecessary gimmick if you can drive vaguely properly, watch the road, watch your speed and don't be a ****.

In the absence of tags, I'll just have to post these:

surf-mat=awesome

Volvo for sale

Speed limiter or speed warning?

one of our company pool cars (Yaris?) has a limiter, I didn’t realise and thought it was broken.

most BMWs and Audi’s I’ve driven recently will chime at you if you exceed a user set limit, but doesn’t actually stop you going past it.

It’s because they’re almost universally ridden by **** with the road sense of a breeze block. It’s this decade’s monkey bikes.

Since you allowed for the few that aren't ridden like that with 'almost' I have to say this is a reasonable summing up.

Although if I'm being generous/spikey there's maybe a bit of the blasted cyclists / e bikers about this viewpoint when you only notice/register the proper melters...

My car has a limiter which can be set. I tend to use it in roadwork sections on the motorway.

I am, of course, fully capable of limiting my speed myself but it’s there so I use it.

Have we all lost the ability to read?

a speed limiter allows you to accelerate and decelerate as you normally would, provided you don’t go above the speed limit you set.

The article's a bit confusing. It also goes on to say they use GPS to establish local speed limits. Either way, it can be overridden so doesn't really limit anything.

in one or two cities only

UK cities ?

One or two or thirty ?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48106617

Police Interceptors will be a bit boring in the future if they do this :o(

Why is this in any way bad?

Haven’t thought it through, have you. What speed, exactly, are you going to set it at?
I’ll let you work it out for yourself.

Haven’t thought it through, have you. What speed, exactly, are you going to set it at?

Not like the technology isn't there to link it directly to GPS.........

I used to do a lot of miles up to 15 years ago. Then it seemed like the outside lane of the motorway was doing a steady 85. Whenever I drive these days (Mostly M5 and M6 between Brum and M62) it seems that very few drivers are going more than 75.
Not that there's a lot of motorway without average speed cams set at 50 or 60, which are scrupulously observed.

those scooters are unregulated and pretty dangerous – to say nothing of being illegal in the UK

They're heavily regulated in the UK: in fact (as you note) they're illegal to use on public roads except in limited trials. Banning things is a form of regulation.

It's already beginning to happen, all new Volvos (regardless of engine and power) are now electronically limited to 112 mph

It’s kind of like cruise control but different. I tend to use it in 50 zones on motorways where the speed is going up and down a lot. Set at 54 mph, and then don’t have to worry about the cameras and can concentrate on the road rather than the Speedo

The car also has a ‘warning’ speed at which an alarm will sound if you reach that speed. That is very useful for overtaking when your car can get in to triple digits very quickly

My jap import stuff had an actual limiter fitted
About 112 mph I think.

Easily fixed luckily lol

Are we all aware that in 2022 all new cars will be fitted with mandatory speed limiters?

What's the problem? Every car I've had for the last 20 years has been fitted with one as part of the cruise control system. You don't need to use it you know.

UK cities ?

One or two or thirty ?

That's what I was thinking. I have seen them in Southampton and Bournemouth. Electric scooters are a great idea but the government need to actually do something to make them legal. If ridden on the road in same way as a bike I can't see why there is a problem with them. 15mph is a reasonable speed and what any average cyclist does without really trying. The problems comes from the legal position (none) and people using them on pavements. Just as I would ride my bike along a pavement at 15mph I would ride an e scooter.

As for cars, they should all have mandatory automatic speed limiting in line with the limit on the road it is being driven. Not sure the technology is actually there yet though as not all roads speeds are mapped out on current software, any temporary changes may not work etc,.
There is simply no reason why anybody has to go above the speed limit and if everyone had the same limit it would make driving nicer (i.e. less tailgating, speeding right up behind you etc,.)

I used to do a lot of miles up to 15 years ago. Then it seemed like the outside lane of the motorway was doing a steady 85. Whenever I drive these days (Mostly M5 and M6 between Brum and M62) it seems that very few drivers are going more than 75.

Yep, me too and tbh earlier than that the speeds were higher - usually could run just below 100 (with the radar detector in the windscreen).

Takes a lot longer to get long distances now.

There is simply no reason why anybody has to go above the speed limit and if everyone had the same limit it would make driving nicer (i.e. less tailgating, speeding right up behind you etc,.)

This is borne out by the way driving up the a9 has changed since the average speed cameras. Its much more pleasant to drive

Good to see we're keeping to the old traditions here and hardly anyone has actually bothered to read the article the OP linked to 🙂

These aren't the speed limiters included in cruise control packages, where the driver sets the limit manually and the car will refuse to go over it. These are:

The speed limiter technology, called Intelligent Speed Assistant (ISA) uses GPS data and/or traffic-sign-recognition cameras to determine the maximum speed allowed in an area. The system then limits the engine’s power and the vehicle’s speed to that limit.

Seems like a reasonable idea, although I do wonder how accurate the maps used by the GPS will be - the traffic sign recognition systems should cover temporary roadworks etc., but only time will tell if it works well enough.

Yep, it's been coming for a while.  My experience of the traffic sign recognition is that it isn't as reliable as you would want but, as has been said already, you can always override it by pressing the pedal hard.  I suspect it will work very well as going over the set speed will take a conscious effort rather than just drifting up because everyone is.  Thumbs up from me

My jap import stuff had an actual limiter fitted
About 112 mph I think.

Easily fixed luckily lol

Your awesome

suspect it will work very well as going over the set speed will take a conscious effort

Hopefully combined with sterner punishments for those choosing to exceed by way of them having to make a conscious decision to go faster ...

The speed limiter technology, called Intelligent Speed Assistant (ISA) uses GPS data and/or traffic-sign-recognition cameras to determine the maximum speed allowed in an area. The system then limits the engine’s power and the vehicle’s speed to that limit.

My mother's car has this for speed warnings, though it doesn't affect the (fully optional) speed limiter.
Often gets it wrong in certain situations, for example, driving along the 50mph ring road and there's a side road with 30 or 20 signs. The car sees these and goes nuts at you until it catches up with where you actually are.

I use it all the time, set 2-3kmh above the limit to allow for speedo error. I'd like it to link to Google maps so I don't have to manually change it which means taking my eyes off the road. If the nice lady can tell me when to turn can't she offer to change the limiter setting too? "50kmh limit, press + or - to accept".

Finding it hard to think of a reason why not have a limiter

It depends on how the limiter works I guess, but on my car I can set it to only ever follow speed limits (it does this by using GPS to find my position then automatically applies the current speed limit).

However near our house there is a school that has an internal speed limit of 5 mph (the road I use is a 30mph limit). When I first got the car and experimented with the limiter, it suddenly slowed the car to 5mph on the main road! I switched it off and haven't used it since.

Weird how people campaign for hard limiters on e-scooters and e-bikes, but the moment you tell them they can’t pilot their two-tonne metal box at 50mph in a 20 zone, they get all upset.

I think the key difference is licences. I think it’s harder to prohibit use without having a licence to remove. Also, I don’t believe in terms of powered motor-driven vehicles, you can really establish competence without an assessment that is in some way certified. Maybe if exclusively human-powered vehicles caused more serious injuries and deaths in third-parties, they would be licensed too.

Your awesome

I know, but thanks.

You're not though, shown by the effort to take part in a thread as opposed to having a go cause yer a fanny.

Still think harder punishments for bad driving are needed more than clinging to the speed kills attitude.

It doesn't.

Can they have a minimum as well so people don't bloody dawdle along an A-road at 35mph!

seems that very few drivers are going more than 75.

Fear of average speed cameras

cause yer a fanny.

Are you 12?

My Citroen has an optional speed limiter. A toggle switch between cruise control and limiter. Often use it if I'm on an unfamiliar motorway or long fast road and find it quite useful and easy to use. If you floor the accelerator it will temporarily turn off the limiter to overtake etc.

Are you 12?

I bet you cannot see even a hint of irony in that can you ?.

Haven’t thought it through, have you. What speed, exactly, are you going to set it at?
I’ll let you work it out for yourself.

is this the old 'I had to break the speed limit to avoid a crash' defence?

Makes no odds. As has been said, this is nothing new, it's been around for years, and it's not a fixed limiter, it's an option.

Haven’t thought it through, have you. What speed, exactly, are you going to set it at?
I’ll let you work it out for yourself.

Well, my phone and my car satnav can pick up what the speed limit is on any given road, so I'd suggest a variable system based on that would be a reasonable start point.

And a max speed of the max speed limit of the country the car is based in, so 70mph in the UK.

Not that hard is it?

Good to see we’re keeping to the old traditions here and hardly anyone has actually bothered to read the article the OP linked to 🙂

These aren’t the speed limiters included in cruise control packages, where the driver sets the limit manually and the car will refuse to go over it.

Irony alert! I think you need to go and read the OP’s link again! 2022 is speed limiters which sound exactly like every car with cruise control has had for the last 10+ yrs (which makes sense as very few changes like this happen before much of the industry is already compliant). 2024 is intelligent limiters (linked to signs/gps). My car already displays the limit on the dash - there may even be a setting to make it enforce it, I’ve never investigated.

Presumably once virtually all cars on the road have intelligent limiters we can stop sending people on courses and start enforcing the law again with draconian sentences because they will have gone out of their way to break the limit?

They also said that the limiter can be disabled *at first* to ease public adoption, but that it would be tightened up in future.

I think if you disable it, it should bing at you constantly until you re-enable it.

The posted article was (ahem) journalistically challenged.

Here's a picture from the European Transport Safety Council just so we have a clear understanding of what ISA is:

ETSC.EU "https://etsc.eu/wp-content/uploads/ETSC-ISA-infographic.pdf"

Will this link to the sat nav or be independent?
If linked it will basically mean mandatory paid upgrades to the car companies

the last 4 cars have had a limiter in there, but i never thought to use them - what was actually more useful was the speed limit display that was in my BMW 1 series - found that really useful, especially on stretches of road where it's changing quite often between 40-50-60. The next (and more expensive too) Beemer didn't have it and i did miss it. Must have been some option that the first one had added and the next didn't (both ex demonstrator cars)

I think if you disable it, it should bing at you constantly until you re-enable it.

I think if you disable it, it should notify your insurance company and charge a 'racing' premium. There's no reason with the GPS tech and black box type insurance why people shouldnt be discouraged from aggressive driving - repeated hard accelerations, braking, cornering and speeding by increased premiums. Instant deterrant and much more unavoidable than the chance of being spotted by a copper.

Black boxes in all cars when I'm PM.

Will this link to the sat nav or be independent?

I often thought this should be linked to satnav, but then I realised how impractical that would be to keep updated. So visual recognition is probably a good option. In the future some kind of RFID system in the signs would be better as they are sometimes obscured.

Once cars have enough computing power and cameras in front, as they apparently now do, all these features are just software updates.

I wonder why you can't have front, rear and side dashcams built into the car these days as an option? It'd be great.

Personally, whilst speed and speed limits are very important factors in road safety, it’s not the whole story.

In my experience (Obviously, subject to some type of confirmation bias.), I see more dangerous driving at or below the legal speed limit. More dodgy overtaking, passing cyclists unsafely, pulling out with insufficient room, un-signalled lane changing into peoples braking distance, poor lane discipline etc…

We need to find a better way of tackling these too.

For me, the sooner that the majority of driving can be safely automated - the better. Especially, with ‘manual’ driving having an enhanced insurance premium, where vehicles have automation options.

Irony alert! I think you need to go and read the OP’s link again! 2022 is speed limiters which sound exactly like every car with cruise control has had for the last 10+ yrs (which makes sense as very few changes like this happen before much of the industry is already compliant). 2024 is intelligent limiters (linked to signs/gps).

That's not how I interpreted it. 2022 is for new models of car, 2024 is retrofitting to models that are already on the market. It's not the cruise control speed limiter you set manually.

Still think harder punishments for bad driving are needed more than clinging to the speed kills attitude.

Aside from arguing if it does or doesn't, do you not think that speeding, eg an inability or unwillingness to obey the law is bad driving?

Any who, mandatory limiters make a lot of sense given the reality that people en masse can't be trusted to obey the law without removing their ability to break it.

By GPS? Hmmm. Now that the speed limit is displayed on the google maps navigation, I notice it’s wrong from time to time. I might be on the motorway (120kmh) but it displays 50 for the parallel service road. Imagine if the limiter kicked in!

Sounds good in principle though.

Aside from arguing if it does or doesn’t, do you not think that speeding, eg an inability or unwillingness to obey the law is bad driving?

No.

Next question.

Are you 12? 😉

Black boxes in all cars when I’m PM.

Before I vote, what are your other policies?

Personally, whilst speed and speed limits are very important factors in road safety, it’s not the whole story.

It's clearly not the whole story but it is a part of it and a part of it that can easily be controlled via speed limiters. Tackling drivers who dangerously overtake and the like is a lot harder but that doesn't mean you should do the easy stuff.

This is borne out by the way driving up the a9 has changed since the average speed cameras. Its much more pleasant to drive

Bollocks. It's far worse now that people seem terrified to over take anywhere other than the dual carriageway sections and then try and flight their way past each other on them. The different speed limit for trucks and cars doesn't help.

Don't the hire e-scooters, at least the ones in Southampton, have GPS based speed limits?

There's no real excuse why new cars aren't using technology to enforce speed limits, whether that's GPS based or simply passing sensors perched on the likes of street lights.

People don't need high horse power, large volume engines capable of crazy acceleration and speeds in excess of 70mph to commute and do the shopping.

As has been demonstrated with Covid, not all people can be trusted to follow the rules, especially while Boris is promising to get police numbers back to what they were before the Tories came back to power ~10 years ago.

I don't like the idea of a car just limiting it's speed. It could potentially upset a car mid corner.

Personally I don't think it's speed so much, inappropriate speed yes, aggressive driving yes, inconsiderate driving yes.

Another thing about the speed limiter, which stops me from using it:

If you set it to, say, 31mph, then it starts cutting in and limiting the engine power from around 26 or 27 mph.
This means you lose all fine control and acceleration if you're driving along at just under the limit (ie most of the time), especially annoying and difficult in traffic.

I don’t like the idea of a car just limiting it’s speed. It could potentially upset a car mid corner.

I don't think it suddenly jams the brakes on, just stops you accelerating. Though I haven't actually tried turning it on with a lower limit than the current speed.

I had a JDM Prelude with the 112mph limit, it was a hard limiter that cut power dramatically. This was a 1992 car so things will hopefully of progressed.

So visual recognition is probably a good option.

have you been through any rural villages where the speed limit is 40 but some of the moany residents plaster their wheely bins with "20 is plenty" followed by a perfect replication of a UK street sign but with a 20 in it?
The potential for people to mess with this system is huge.