Incoming mandatory speed limiters affects Caterham?

[VeeFource]

Hi all,

Does anybody know if small specialist car manufacturers like Caterham, Lotus, Ariel, Morgan etc will be subject to the new EU & UK rules already passed that mean any new model of car from 2022 and any existing model from 2024 will have to be fitted with mandatory speed limiter technology?

I'd have thought not given the level of technology required to achieve this and the less stringent compliance needed for safety standards etc. But then again Caterham are talking about having to go EV only by 2030 so perhaps the speed limiter thing could be an issue after all?

[carphotographer]

I'm guessing these limiters must be able to be overridden for track days, etc. ?

[CanAm]

carphotographer said:

I'm guessing these limiters must be able to be overridden for track days, etc. ?

At the moment, you'll be able to switch them off or override them at any time, but they will come back on whenever you start the car, like the current automatic stop/start devices.

[BertBert]

But caterham don't do any type approval, so it'll be a case of whether the speed limiters end up being part of iva. Doesn't sound likely. But who knows?

Edited by BertBert on Thursday 5th May 05:59

[jezzaaa]

CanAm said:

At the moment, you'll be able to switch them off or override them at any time, but they will come back on whenever you start the car, like the current automatic stop/start devices.

I understood (happy to be corrected) that the position you state above is the initial position, but they'll be looking to make it compulsory and not able to be disabled in the future...because of course the EU wants to control all aspects of everyone's lives...but frustratingly the UK government could have had at least one benefit of Brexit by not following them down that rabbit hole! But of course, they have said that they will duplicate. tts.

However, in Caterham's case, they don't have all the electronic systems in the cars to enable this. I believe that everything made by volume manufacturers for sale in Europe since 2019 (or some recent time) have had to have these systems embedded. But retrofitting to caterhams...I think most owners would tell them to feck off...

Edited by jezzaaa on Wednesday 4th May 22:30

[CanAm]

jezzaaa said:

CanAm said:

At the moment, you'll be able to switch them off or override them at any time, but they will come back on whenever you start the car, like the current automatic stop/start devices.

I understood (happy to be corrected) that the position you state above is the initial position, but they'll be looking to make it compulsory and not able to be disabled in the future...because of course the EU wants to control all aspects of everyone's lives...but frustratingly the UK government could have had at least one benefit of Brexit by not following them down that rabbit hole! But of course, they have said that they will duplicate. tts.

However, in Caterham's case, they don't have all the electronic systems in the cars to enable this. I believe that everything made by volume manufacturers for sale in Europe since 2019 (or some recent time) have had to have these systems embedded. But retrofitting to caterhams...I think most owners would tell them to feck off...

That's why I put it in bold; I trust our law-makers (especially the EU ones) about as much as you do!

[VeeFource]

Thanks for the feedback all. I suppose only Caterham etc will have the most knowledge of this atm, maybe it could be a question posed to them on the next club Youtube webinar but I'm guessing that means we'll have to wait till January to find out..

[markiii]

i thought Rees Mog had stated we werent; following the EU rules on this?

[jezzaaa]

markiii said:

i thought Rees Mog had stated we werent; following the EU rules on this?

I really hope you're right, but Rees-Mog is not a reliable source of information. Apparently he recently said that free trade is important!!

[dabevan]

The proposed UK implementation is that it warns the driver, but does not prevent speeding.

Even the strictest EU proposals allowed it to be overridden.

[jezzaaa]

dabevan said:

The proposed UK implementation is that it warns the driver, but does not prevent speeding.

Even the strictest EU proposals allowed it to be overridden.

I hope you're right...the press does tend to exaggerate to get the apoplexy fueled!

[VeeFource]

dabevan said:

The proposed UK implementation is that it warns the driver, but does not prevent speeding.

Even the strictest EU proposals allowed it to be overridden.

It doesn't just warn though from what I've read. It electronically restricts you to the speed limits unless you either max out the go pedal or long press a button to disable the system. Call me paranoid but I'd wager the car will be capable of recording this and in the not to distant future, insurers will refuse to pay out if the system was overridden or deactivated prior to an incident. Similarly you'll be more to blame in the eyes of the law regardless of whether speed was a contributory factor or not in both these cases.

It seems to me by leaving the ability to override/deactivate the system (for now at least), the EU is able to make yet another step towards a big brother world with a tolerable amount of public backlash. However if limiters were introduced without these options it would be too much of a step change and result in them not being able to get the legislation passed through. But the really sneaky part is that whilst the system can be overridden/deactivated for now, there's nothing to say vehicles with this feature can't be brought into line with future legislation that prevents any overriding or deactivation at all.

I'm definitely not pro-speeding per se, but in my view this is one of those adult responsibilities that if taken away is essentially governments starting to treat society as children and is as a result, tantamount to dictatorship.