Car speed limiters

Gone full whack on my zx6r on public roads and round the IOM and speed really isn't the cause of all accidents. If you read the road properly you can go fast in places. Not everywhere, all the time but it can be done.

I'd bet plain inattention is the biggest killer of cyclists. I'd rather ride pillion with my racer mate than get a lift off my mother. He's fast but competent.

Though I'm not necessarily against this idea, how would we as a community react to a device on our bikes which simply rendered it inoperable if we were to try to use it outside the law (say, for instance, locked the brakes on if we were to go the wrong way down a one way street, or use it without a helmet on?

“Reckon this could have a positive effect on cyclist's safety? It won't stop drivers from putting the hammer down to overtake..”

Not particularly, no. Accidents are caused, generally, by lack of awareness. Pulling out of a junction and into a cyclist, for example, happens well below any speed limit. Even putting the hammer down to overtake on a 40mph road, the driver will stay below that if they were “stuck” behind a cyclist at 20mph. I can’t see a single benefit from a cycling perspective to be honest

Having driven speed-limited vans long distances, and spent hours of my life going through average speed enforced motorway roadworks, I wonder if it will have a negative impact on a driver's attention to the road. Driving at a fixed speed is monotonous and you can easily get sucked into driving to the brake lights of the car in front. Too much automation leads to too much trust in the vehicle, as evidenced by people doing stupid stuff because they're following satnav directions.

I also worry that it will discourage drivers from slowing down to pass cyclists because they'll feel they won't be able to make up lost time (I know that in reality it's literally seconds but that's not how some drivers perceive it). Potentially it will enforce the attitude of the speed limit as a target. The roads near where I live in the New Forest are mostly 40mph limits but they're certainly not safe at that speed in bad weather or at night. Interested to see how the sign detection is going to work, given that so many are in poor condition or overgrown in rural areas. 

Hopefully the telematics will be a positive enforcement technology given how often police appeals after collisions are interested in how the car was being driven leading up to the accident. Don't think you'll be able to draw conclusions in court from long-term data unless biometrics are also used - how could you prove who was driving otherwise?

On the plus side it's got the car lobby foaming at the mouth and a bunch of otherwise upstanding members of society bleating on about freedom to break the law. I particularly love the "I need to speed to get out of tight situations" muppets. Yesterday morning was good fun "Ah well, it won't apply because of Brexit" through to "Bloody EU" and ending up with people moaning at the UN.

As a reformed boy racer petrolhead I can't believe I'm in favour of this but I wholeheartedly support it. I'm currently pootling around in a 90hp Mondeo Estate which is probably the slowest car I've ever driven and yet still I could routinely break the speed limit everywhere I drive. That's why speed limiters are needed.

Perhaps we can introduce a market for speeding? Have telematics record speed vs limit and invoice the driver after each journey. Hell, we could even use blockchain for it and people could buy speeding credits like carbon credits.

Also expect to see End User License Agreements & Privacy Notices popping up after you turn the key but before the engine starts (the German privacy lawyers will mandate that so it will end up being implemented by Bosch who provide these systems to most car makers).

I like going at 120mph. It is fun.

Let's face it, it would not have been difficult to limit all motor vehicles in the UK to approximately 70 mph at any time since the introduction of a National Speed Limit. Tachometers could also have been made mandatory.  Let's just be glad that the technology is getting cheaper, more accurate and more responsive, therefore this is a good first step.  Now it's possible to set hard limits to match the posted speed limit on all roads, but it's being introduced with an override.  Let the motons scream, but this will prevent some deaths.  Once the outrage has died down,and most people discover that they don't need the override, it will be easier to remove the override requirement.  By then they'll probably all be driving completely autonomous, totally enclosed, carbon fibre monocoques with e-assist and thinking that saying "take me to work" clearly is the epitome of high driving standards.

This is humanity, If we didn't bugger about so much, we could have had current day technology several thousand years ago, but we prefer to bicker, kill, exploit and manipulate each other.

Kill the Motons!  Worship Kirkpatrick and Tullio!  Err, no.

Making the speed control systems switchable is pathetic; the morons will simply override it and carry on as normal.  What's wrong with a system that simply obeys the law, or is that a step too far for the human rights crowd?

Of course, if you ask the average motorist for an opinion you will get the standard 'I need to be able to accelerate out of trouble' reply, which is arrant nonsense.  Translated into English this means they reserve the right to get into troublesome situations before thinking them through.

With legislators like these it's no wonder the fall in casualty figures has flatlined over the last few years.

'Somethings gotta give' in this era of cheap, convenient and accessible motoring with no such thing as an underpowered car.  I bought an Audi in 2000 and everyone was 'check you out'; common as muck now and even a bottom of the range car feels like a hot-hatch (compared to years ago).  If the roads were a business, Health and Safety would have shut them down years ago.  Manufacturers feel they have a social responsibility to minimise accidents and relying on drivers 'goodwill' to behave themselves is fantasy thinking.  Cars 'shout' at you if you don't put your seatbelt on, auto-braking and adaptive speed control is around, so speed-limiters, black boxes, mobile phone detectors, breathalyser interlocks and cameras are the next step.  Guess the big change is that drivers are having freedoms removed.  Tech wise it's the logical step towards networked, speed-controlled roads and driverless cars.  Company pool cars have telematics to enforce safe driving.  Not sure it will reduce cyclist/car incidents but it's a move in the right direction; imagine every car had camera/black box recording (that legally has to be on/working)?  That would make motorists think twice before misbehaving.