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:
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.
That's just your manufacturer's choice, ossify. The Zoé races up to the set speed, often goes 1kmh over and then settles back to the limited speed.
In EVs the mode D/B motor braking keeps it down to the limit so you can feel some braking downhill. If anything it reduces in bends as tyre scrub provides a tiny amount of braking. If the D/B motor braking isn't enough to keep the car to the limit there's an audible warning.
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 can't say I've ever noticed this and I use the limiter function a lot.
I don’t think it suddenly jams the brakes on, just stops you accelerating.
The various ones I've used haven't slowed the vehicle at all once you're above the limit, they simply provide a soft stop to your acceleration at that point, exceed the limit and it will behave exactly as if there were none set.
When this was mooted some years I was hoping it would introduce mandatory limits for all cars although reading this thread there are a number of issues that need overcoming first.
My car also has a speed limiter although I never use it but i do use the Sat Nav which indicates speed limits which is useful.
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.
Not my experience. But then I don't have a compulsion to "get to the front".
The different speed limit for trucks and cars doesn’t help.
Is the whole point not that trucks are exceptionally allowed to do 50 on the single c/way A9 to avoid this?
Having spent nearly 9 years driving commercial vehicles with 56mph limits I would happily welcome limiters for regular cars too. It's so much more pleasant driving with everyone at a similar speed, just look at areas with average cameras. I'd happily support the whole country being carpeted with average cameras too actually. And if you think that's anti Making Progress then anyone who drives for pleasure in a spirited manner knows full well that the most fun is always on a twisty B road that you'd struggle to hit the limit anyway so these limiters won't stop people having some fun in the right circumstances.
I think if you disable it, it should bing at you constantly until you re-enable it.
A safety light on the roof would be more effective, would help identifying the morons behind the wheel too. You could have a range of stupid colours depending on how long the limiter has been switched off for too.
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.
Can't say I've noticed this on any of the cars I've driven with one. Certainly no loss of control - that sounds like "excuses" to me. A bit like the people who claim to accelerate out of danger.
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.
I think I've seen this once. Can't say I would lose sleep over it - if the problem is bad enough to put in that effort to slow the traffic down, its probably worth slowing down. Presumably anyone repeatedly doing it where it causes an actual issue would have some sort of enforcement action - local council removed private-parking signs erected next to adopted road here so they have the power.
It’s so much more pleasant driving with everyone at a similar speed
Yeah everyone loves the lorries with a 0.5mph speed differential taking up both lanes of a dual carriageway or motorway, never causes any grief at all! 😉
If EVERYONE is limited to the same speed itmakes more sense than just some of the people!
Mental note I realised last time I was there, US truckers are not limited as they are in the UK/EU!
Yeah everyone loves the lorries with a 0.5mph speed differential taking up both lanes of a dual carriageway or motorway, never causes any grief at all!
This isn't a speed limit issue, it's the drivers being dicks. If you are closing in behind another lorry that slowly you can just slow down and deal with the 0.5mph loss in speed. Hopefully when they get the ability to daisy-chain convoys the fuel reduction will be enough that companies will mandate it and we'll suddenly get an extra lane back on our motorways.
I don’t like the idea of a car just limiting it’s speed. It could potentially upset a car mid corner.
The hire car I had a few months ago had a speed limiter linked to the cameras. I used it as I was commuting on a section of motorway with 40/50/60/NSL sections and with the best will in the world I was always panicking when I passed one whether it was the 1st of that limit or if I'd missed one.
It doesnt cut the power, it's just like the cruise control but if you take your foot off the pedal it slows down.
Unless you're on the absolute limit of grip (which you shouldn't be, as that would mean you definitely can't stop in the distance you can see without ending up in the hedge/oncoming traffic) it's just gradually easing the throttle on/off.
It could be overridden by momentarily blipping the pedal to the floor (usefull if you pass a junction with an ambiguous speed limit sign).
eg an inability or unwillingness to obey the law is bad driving?
Absolutely no. You can safely drive above any speed limit if the conditions allow. I refuse to believe anyone doesn't get that.
Bad driving is nothing to do with speed limits, it's all to do with standards of driving and , where speed is involved, is about driving too fast for those conditions.
"Obey" is also a word I have issues with lol.
