[Closed] Would you buy a speed limited car?

There is not a single dangerous situation that couldn't be improved by braking

I can think of a few.... aquaplaning starters

There is not a single dangerous situation that couldn't be improved by braking
I can think of a few.... aquaplaning starters

Or a tyre blow out

Likewise braking mid corner unsettles the vehicle. Much better to maintain a constant speed through a bend even if you've gone in too fast.

There is not a single dangerous situation that couldn't be improved by braking

or driving away from impending nuclear explosion.

There is not a single dangerous situation that couldn't be improved by braking, not one

I'll add ice and diesel/oil spills. That's four without too much effort. So you're right there's not one.

So long as the speed limiter is aware of overseas speed limits (or lack thereof), i might consider it.

But if it's GPS based, there'll be plenty of situations where it won't work at all, or won't work properly. Several bits of autobahn where there's a parallel section with a totally different speed limit to the main section. Mine is always telling me I'm speeding in an 80km/h zone, but I'm on the 120km/h lanes. heck there's even some bits with a 100km/h in lanes 2+3 and 40km/h in lane 1 for trucks and caravans only. Yes 40.

And roadworks? school zones with part time 20mph zones? Assume my ECU or black box will be aware of school terms and teacher strikes and inset days?

And I regularly accelerate out of danger. Even my driving instructor taught that exceeding the speed limit briefly is safer than braking in many instances. Same with passing trucks in rain. If you can't pass them quickly, everyone will be stuck at 56mph 100m behind them because of the spray (grandad/grandma passing trucks in rain and scared to go a little bit faster is one of my pet hates - put yer foot down, and in 5 second you'll be out of the spray! nope they'll stick to slower speed in middle lane and be getting stressed for kilometres).

Accelerating to passing speed isn't the quite the same as accelerating out of danger in practical terms.

Passing the truck with the spray is just passing. I've done it countless times (of course) in my non-fast cars, as have most people.

Ha - Google will have our cars driving themselves soon, you won't even be paying attention to what speed you are going - too busy doing other stuff (probably working!)

I'd love a self driving car on dull motorway slogs. Brilliant.

deadlydarcy - Member

You haven't answered the question. Who or what is maintaining the speed? The car or the driver?

I have several times, clearly it's the speed limiter. Have you ever driven a vehicle with a speed limiter, or a car that isn't capable of 70mph? I think you might get this a bit easier if you had. You put it to the stops then you forget about it.

jfletch - Member

Doesn't this disprove your own hypothesis? You speed will still drop when you get tired as it's still your foot maintaining the speed.

Same question for you. Your speed doesn't drop unless you actively do something to change it.

molgrips - Member

I'd love a self driving car on dull motorway slogs. Brilliant.

Me too. Or train-drive, that'd be mint.

I'd love a self driving car on dull motorway slogs. Brilliant.

Me too. Or train-drive, that'd be mint.

This is closer than you'd think. Daimler's [url= http://technicity.daimler.com/en ]tech magazine[/url] is usually stuffed full of info about how they're trying to [url= http://technicity.daimler.com/en/whittaker-en/?tcitywall%5Bcategories%5D%5B0%5D=safe ]automate driving[/url].

As an aside, this month's joke feature is on fat suits & the ergonomics of getting the average trucker behind the wheel.

I have several times, clearly it's the speed limiter. Have you ever driven a vehicle with a speed limiter, or a car that isn't capable of 70mph? I think you might get this a bit easier if you had. You put it to the stops then you forget about it.

Nope, the speed limiter is limiting the speed. Not maintaining it. The clue is in the name.

I think I'd like to know a bit more about failsafes... I had a Focus with an iffy crank sensor, once in a long while the engine'd just switch off while driving. Surprising enough when you're driving manually but I can see it being a bit more troublesome if you've engaged the autopilot and fallen asleep. And the list of options when you're in the fast lane of a crowded motorway with a dead engine is long and not easily programmed.

deadlydarcy - Member

Nope, the speed limiter is limiting the speed. Not maintaining it. The clue is in the name.

Ach, you know what, I give up. I don't think you can genuinely be failing to understand. Playing with words doesn't stand up against how things actually work in the world.

fast lane of a crowded motorway

What lane? 😀

aquaplaning starters

Or a tyre blow out

Likewise braking mid corner unsettles the vehicle.

I'll add ice and diesel/oil spills

Well done for winning the pointless pedant awards, but you would have be pretty dumb to actually speed up in those situations either so your special skills will be ok with a limiter.

Same question for you. Your speed doesn't drop unless you actively do something to change it.

Ahh, I can see where you are getting confused now. You see your speed will drop if you fail to keep your foot on the throttle. You have to actively keep it pressed to maintain your speed. This is how a car works, if you let go the car will coast to a stop.

Playing with words doesn't stand up against how things actually work in the world.

I'm not playing with words. But fairy nuff, if you can't prove your point, then tell me I just don't understand. 🙂

glupton1976 - Member

What lane?

Excuse me, the outside lane 😉

jfletch - Member

Ahh, I can see where you are getting confused now. You see your speed will drop if you fail to keep your foot on the throttle

And as discussed at horrible length, that's not something you have to think about doing. Where is your foot right now? Are you consciously keeping it there? Or did you put it where you wanted it then just leave it there?

Neither of you answered the question- ever driven a vehicle with a limiter (or, equivalent, a vehicle that can't go at the speed limit?)

Neither of you answered the question- ever driven a vehicle with a limiter (or, equivalent, a vehicle that can't go at the speed limit?)

I don't remember you asking. Yep, a hire car in the USA. Tbf, it was limited to something like 75 or 80 and that was the only limit. It also had cruise control. Why?

[b]couldn't be improved by braking[/b]

Well done for winning the pointless pedant awards, but you would have be pretty dumb to actually [b]speed up[/b] in those situations either so your special skills will be ok with a limiter.

try reading your own posts!

deadlydarcy - Member

I don't remember you asking.

You did quote me asking, so that's weird.

"Neither of you answered the question- ever driven a vehicle with a limiter (or, equivalent, a vehicle that can't go at the speed limit?"

french toll road in a vehicle that did 80 max ....

a vehicle that when going uphills had to get into the truck lane because the french would just drive into you otherwise regardless of lane.

i have decided that if i go to france again im taking a car at least capible of the speed limit and enough power to climb hills.....

taking a nice powerful vehicle and limiting it is just idiotic- it creates ALOT more problems than it solves.

and saying its GPS based - well if i drove at the speed limit my GPS tells me half the time - id be limited to go through roadworks far too fast hitting NSL's at 30 and it would just be chaos.

You did quote me asking, so that's weird.

Jeez...

Did I answer or was I addressing something else in the quote? Sometimes I just copy a whole paragraph (as it's easier on a jellybone rather than pinching fingers all night, I dunno... Anyway, I've answered now. Why?

It's clear why I was asking when you read what I wrote (I generally do that before responding to people or quoting them, fwiw). If you've driven a limited vehicle, you must know how you can use it to set the speed at the limiter, and how that's different from constantly controlling the speed yourself.

Again...Jeez. I explained myself and answered. Why labour on it dude?

Anyway...it was quite different driving the car on cc rather than using the limiter. As the limiter only kicked in at a top end whereas with cc, the car was being maintained at a constant speed by a combination of engine braking and acceleration. I guess I wasn't driving to the limit constantly and maybe fall outside that particular subset of road users.

FWIW I agree with NW.

No practical difference between a speed limited car and cruise control.

On the speed limited car you are just using the accelerator as a foot rest rather than the foot rest.

Once you are at maximum speed you aren't thinking about controlling the speed of the car anymore.

Ok, how about an annoying warning bing that you can't disable when you go over the limit?

Ok, how about an annoying warning bing that you can't disable when you go over the limit?

I have one of them already fitted to the passenger seat, called the wife

in a way (bit of a reach here) my car already has something similar.

you'd need to be deaf to ignore the excessive revs required to go much over 30 in 2nd gear.

Had a nice succinct answer typed out but this shoddy hotel wifi lost it an I can't be arsed to type it all again.

Gist was black doesn't equal white... Pissing in the wind... Yes, a Morris Minor 1000

ahwiles - Member

in a way (bit of a reach here) my car already has something similar.

you'd need to be deaf to ignore the excessive revs required to go much over 30 in 2nd gear.

I've owned two cars that could break the national speed limit in 2nd gear. 🙂

What a sad little thread. No because of the question but because of the obvious blood spitting anger that occurs when someone suggests we might limit top speeds.

It should be part of the test, ask someone the question, if they get angry they're not ready to drive a vehicle. Give 'em a bike and let them experience speeding idiots for a while, then ask them the question again.

As for the original question. It's unworkable at a voluntary level and would make more problems than it solves. It'd need to be mandatory, across the board, which would be impossible.

What a sad little thread. No because of the question but because of the obvious blood spitting anger that occurs when someone suggests we might limit top speeds.

As for the original question. It's unworkable at a voluntary level and would make more problems than it solves. It'd need to be mandatory, across the board, which would be impossible.

Agree with this completely.

I've read the thread and i didn't notice any blood splitting anger. A bit of frustration from some quarters at the lack of understanding or foresight from some posters and that's it. Maybe i'm not melodramatic enough.

Perhaps I'm good at reading undertones, but a bit of melodrama is good too.

Not sure it would be impossible. Most cars don't last much more than a decade. Anything over three years needs an MOT. MOTs could include GPS based limiters in a few years. All new cars currently require ABS and DRLs, neither of which were around a while ago. Most new large goods and PCVs have simple, not GPS, limiters installed. Legislation requiring GPS based limiters on new build private vehicles isn't much of a leap. GPS detectors at every speed limit sign is technologically achievable.
The stumbling block is a UK Legislature having the balls to pass the legislation, which would be political suicide. Ultimately, this will probably come from the EU.

Current speed limits are antiquated and irrelevant.

Its not just safety. The speed of car contribute significantly to the noise pollution as well as air pollution traffic makes. Something most people who talk about driving fast on public roads seem to forget.

well as someone who has just moved onto 9 (nine) points I think it might not be such a bad idea! I'm actually thinking of buying an even less powerful car next time as mine does get to 70 mph v quickly and when the dual carriageway is 40 or 50 that is trouble.

I rather assume that in 20 years time all cars will be GPS / computer driven and at that point will be programmed to follow the precise speed limit. The technology for this must exist already?

If every vehicle on the road was automatic, it might work.

Again - the Transport Lab tried all this several years ago and walked away after it increased accidents.
Imagine having the power cut mid corner because the gps says it must do so? Bikes actually tucked the front and crashed because the throttle was cut, cars ran wide when the same happened and the power came back in!

Imagine having the power cut mid corner because the gps says it must do so?

What would happen then? You would adjust speed limit points so that didn't happen, and you wouldn't have it slam on the anchors obviously. You also would not have it change speed automatically - just stop you driving over a certain speed.

Crap implementation doesn't mean it's a bad concept.

Auto driving completely autonomous cars would be perfect as far as I'm concerned. I've got better things to do than drive I just want to get where I'm going cheaply and in comfort and hopefully without delays caused by the incompetence of "better drivers than me".

Whilst I know you lot are probably arguing about the colour of stitching on the steering wheel by now. Could I just point out (again) that cars WILL be speed limited within the next ten year.

Reason being only cocks and those trying to sell cars think differently.

Anyway... Carry on.

Autonomous is the only way it will work - limiting "driven" vehicles won't.
Too many variables.
Molgrips - they tried multiple implementations of it and it still posed dangerous problems.
The gps files only give certain points, limits, etc. they can't allow for variables or other drivers for example.
Whether it will or won't happen in the near future is irrelevant - unless it is automated they have already proved it is unsafe even using the best technology available allowing a human to still have an element of control.

"[i]As for the original question. It's unworkable at a voluntary level and would make more problems than it solves. It'd need to be mandatory, across the board, which would be impossible.[/i]"

I wouldn't be remotely surprised if it comes in via voluntary black boxes for cheaper and/or PAYG insurance, and AFAIK the EU is looking at a mandatory approach anyway.

Molgrips - they tried multiple implementations of it and it still posed dangerous problems.

Again, just because they couldn't solve the problems doesn't mean they were insoluble.