What do you think? Do you think it is a good thing which will ultimately save lives or something that could actually cause more accidents?
1 Like
Personally I favour the opening comment made in the linked article:
“But AA president Edmund King said the technology could make cars less safe and the ‘best speed limiter is the driver’s right foot’ when used ‘to do the right speed in the right situation’.”
I’ve always liked speed and believe if more people knew, and were taught, what speed actually is and how to control both that urge to speed and the car in inappropriate places, times or weather the roads would be far safer.
This technology is already here, in a slightly less ‘Big Brother’ form. I have it on my VW Golf as part of the ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) / Front Brake Assist (emergency braking system), it’s under my control though and not part of a ‘black box’ making it compulsory. The later VW models, I am informed, have this technology which is able to recognise the varying speed limit signs and will slow the car to that speed. It may even be an ‘extra’ now, not sure. But what a brilliant idea in this county, where we have so many ridiculous changes of speed limits by as little as 10mph within a few miles, that it’s so easy, even for an experienced driver, to simply lose track of what the applicable speed limit is.
New technology would be far better used, in my opinion, to prevent so many drivers being so irresponsible as to use mobile phones, not the ‘hands-free’ type but holding a mobile so as to use it.
Speed limites are about the worst thing to have on a car. When I joined Post office Telephones, as it was known then, we had morris minor vans( with rubber wings) that had speed limiters on them
They were restricted to 30MPH with a very slow pickup speed, so to even overtake a push bike was problematical. That was let alone keeping up with traffic and going uphill impossible.
So ok they were severely restricted, but there are times when you need that bit of power even to avoid an accident.
My Nissan has all the bells and whistles on it including 5 cameras. What would be better than speed limiters is all new cars fitted with dashcams
Will this law apply to Police cars and Ambulances I wonder?
BREAKING NEWS:-
Police chase joyriders from Sheffield all the way to John O Groats at forty miles an hour, they were only apprehended after they ran out of road…
And if it doesn’t apply to Ambulances I can see a lot of people driving round in second hand Ambulances…At least they’ll be good for moving that sofa or taking rubbish to the dump…And perhaps the EU will make it law to house some immigrants in it…
God help the convoy of older cars stuck behind a new one with a speed limiter on it while on their way to work in a morning…
And is this the same EU that was designed to make it easier for European countries to trade with each other?
As someone who never knowingly breaks the speed limit, I like this idea but, there needs to be a way to take control manually if you find yourself in a dangerous situation.
I get fed up of idiots trying to make me break the speed limit by tailgating and trying to overtake when I can’t see what’s coming let alone them.
I guess this new EU ‘rule’ would make very little difference to caravanners then!
Do my best not to break speed limits, can’t claim to be perfect as some roads seem to have forgotten to put up signage but so I can’t see a problem with them although will they be able to tell one road from another or just stop them going over national speed limit ? if it’s just to stop them going over 70 how does that help with the places people speed most ? the 30-40 m/h zones.
If people want to do 150 on a motorway they can kill other drivers know the risks but doing 40 in a 30 zone can kill children and pedestrians who are going about their own lives.
It might work. I suppose performance-wise, it would be not a lot different to the speed limiter that comes as part of cruise control.
This would be quite a bit better than when I worked for Radio Rentals. We had a period where the vans had engines with governors fitted. They were sluggish in general performance and horrible to drive.
I’m also supposing that it would use sat-nav technology to know the speed limit of the bit of road you’re travelling on and limit the speed accordingly.
… and, if it detects manual override, it could, automatically, send a report (with 4-way cam coverage?) to the police … :shock:
I can’t imagine why you need a speed limiter on UK roads. It was rare that you could even achieve the speed limit except in the middle of the night, the cars I rented couldn’t maintain their speed going up hills anyway and the motorways seem to come to a halt randomly for no apparent reason.
Seems a totally redundant piece of equipment.
Ah yes, I was just trying to work out what the police would do if all the fines stopped… but that’s it isn’t it. 
Personally I hate the idea of speed limiters - I have one on my car but it is always turned off. I agree that the best speed limiter is the right foot but I suppose the foot needs to be linked to a brain that can judge the best speed for the conditions.
The sort of problems I see is everyone travelling at say 60mph but the car on the outside lane needs to get off at the next junction. Obviously all the lorries are nose to tail which means there are no spaces so unless they let you in, then you would need to break the speed limit to get past them all.
The other problem is that quite often, the best way out of an accident is acceleration, not braking.
I do agree with TessA however that driving to the speed limit is sometimes difficult when you get people behind you that think it doesn’t apply to them.
Not all parts of the UK are as you say. Where I live, and many other places too, is close to the A1(M), a four-lane both north and south motorway. When I use it my cruise control is set to 70mph and in the middle of the day I am often overtaken by vehicles in lane three or four going at well over 100mph I reckon.
Also, and quite often too, these motorists are being followed by a fully signed police car with the ‘blue and two’s’ going! Another, and unknown to many motorists, is an unidentifiable, plain maroon Skoda estate car that can also be seen following or stopping the unaware speeding motorist. Now who would have thought it – that colour plain Skoda and an estate car at that! The only blue lights you will see on that are those in the front grille and viewed in your rearview mirror if you are speeding and they have caught you!
This is bad news for Mr M .
He often goes over the limit .
That really is below the belt. 
Definitely! It also goes against what a lot of motorists believe about Skoda. The latest Skoda models are based on VW cars so I guess lurking beneath that ‘plain cover’ could be the same engine as in the VW Golf GTI and most motorists know the reputation that has!
I only caught part of this item on the news
But I thought it said it was a proposal in the EU and that it had to be ratified by all leaders well that will never happen
Also here in Spain you very rarely see the traffic cops they have very few speed cameras and everybody speeds even lorries governed to 80KPH go past you at over 100 and the speed limit is 80 on most duel carriageways you will still see people on their mobiles even though it carries a fine
I must admit to quicking but like most towns and cities in the UK the traffic is that bad that you very rarely get to speed apart from motorways so putting a governor on the engine might work but there are so many old cars that unless you make them change it is going to take a hell of a long time and by then we will be on self drive cars
Stuck behind
Not good for the bloke( l'm assuming its a bloke), in fronts ego
OGF.
Best regards, Donkeyman.