RE: Speed Limiter Trial
Monday 20th January 2003
Speed Limiter Trial
Speed cameras to be rendered obsolete?
Discussion
My initial thought was 
youand.
Further careful contemplation raised the thought that this scheme may be a good idea if used as follows:
1) Not mandatory on all current and new vehicles.
2) Only used as a punishment for convicted speeders for a period of time determined by the court as opposed to points. Thus comprimising between a ban and no ban.
youand. Further careful contemplation raised the thought that this scheme may be a good idea if used as follows:
1) Not mandatory on all current and new vehicles.
2) Only used as a punishment for convicted speeders for a period of time determined by the court as opposed to points. Thus comprimising between a ban and no ban.
My fingers tremble on the keyboard with anger and frustration as I try to contain my ire at such a ludicrous idea. Anybody who believes in such speed control devices knows so little about car control and safe driving that they should have their licenses stripped from them. And to think they will probably try to apply this inane idea to single track vehicles as well.
The way things are going one will soon need a license to drive a nail.
The way things are going one will soon need a license to drive a nail.
My fingers tremble on the keyboard with anger and frustration as I try to contain my ire at such a ludicrous idea. Anybody who believes in such speed control devices knows so little about car control and safe driving that they should have their licenses stripped from them. And to think they will probably try to apply this inane idea to single track vehicles as well.
The way things are going one will soon need a license to drive a nail.
The way things are going one will soon need a license to drive a nail.
This type of thing scares the be-jesus out of me. Under NO circumstances could we ever have this in the real-world!!! Ok, been involved in previous postings about ID cards etc and its a bit of a fine line. However, in this case I can truely say "HAND ON HEART" that it wont make the blindest difference to the accident rates. Anyone that says it will is either stupid or has a vested interest in making money out of it.....
I am no psycologist but I have worked with people in UAT and similar roles before and there are some common traits that you get with people in general.... one of which is that they will do anything to absolve themselves of responsibility. Anything, blame the cat, the postman, the coffee brand, anything to get them off the hook or to absolve them from thinking....
I cannot believe we could consider the implementation of a system that effectively means that all drivers (remember good or bad here) can just put their foot flat to the floor and know that they wont break the law! No problems, no issues and no points on your licenses...
But, what about all of those schools that are unfortunate enough to have 40 or even higher speed limits past them? Will people slow down - will they hell.... they dont at the moment, but we will get people just foot flat to the floor....
"oh, sorry officier, I wasnt speeding"
"I know sir, but did you not see the child bounce of the bonnet"
"Yes sir, but I wasnt speeding"
"Yes, you have already said that, but surely you should have slowed down"
"No, because I wasnt speeding"
...
...
You just know that this would be a nightmare. Under NO circumstances can we have this. I will take to the streets to have this stopped - anything.... anyone else with me???
Cheers,
Paul
P.S. Note that this makes no reference to personal freedom or the fact that I have a sports car, its simply down to the fact that I simply dont believe that it is in anyway safer than our existing "responsibility" system.....
I am no psycologist but I have worked with people in UAT and similar roles before and there are some common traits that you get with people in general.... one of which is that they will do anything to absolve themselves of responsibility. Anything, blame the cat, the postman, the coffee brand, anything to get them off the hook or to absolve them from thinking....
I cannot believe we could consider the implementation of a system that effectively means that all drivers (remember good or bad here) can just put their foot flat to the floor and know that they wont break the law! No problems, no issues and no points on your licenses...
But, what about all of those schools that are unfortunate enough to have 40 or even higher speed limits past them? Will people slow down - will they hell.... they dont at the moment, but we will get people just foot flat to the floor....
"oh, sorry officier, I wasnt speeding"
"I know sir, but did you not see the child bounce of the bonnet"
"Yes sir, but I wasnt speeding"
"Yes, you have already said that, but surely you should have slowed down"
"No, because I wasnt speeding"
...
...
You just know that this would be a nightmare. Under NO circumstances can we have this. I will take to the streets to have this stopped - anything.... anyone else with me???
Cheers,
Paul
P.S. Note that this makes no reference to personal freedom or the fact that I have a sports car, its simply down to the fact that I simply dont believe that it is in anyway safer than our existing "responsibility" system.....
This is extremely disturbing!!
I don't wish to appear uncaring and unsympathetic to those who have suffered at the hands of an RTA, but how can this type of draconian measure be justified on the "speed kills banner"?
Why does the government not also ban smoking therefore reducing the number of deaths from lung cnacer? Why does the Government not Ban people from doing DIY at home, this will save hundreads of people from accidents and possible death.
what are the Government trying to achieve with this sort of trial?
Do they think that by automatically governing somebodies speeed it makes the vehicle safer? With respect there is still a human at the wheel and all humans are faliable, the Government will never be able to control this aspect!!
I don't wish to appear uncaring and unsympathetic to those who have suffered at the hands of an RTA, but how can this type of draconian measure be justified on the "speed kills banner"?
Why does the government not also ban smoking therefore reducing the number of deaths from lung cnacer? Why does the Government not Ban people from doing DIY at home, this will save hundreads of people from accidents and possible death.
what are the Government trying to achieve with this sort of trial?
Do they think that by automatically governing somebodies speeed it makes the vehicle safer? With respect there is still a human at the wheel and all humans are faliable, the Government will never be able to control this aspect!!
I think this should be mandatory fitment to all new cars.
Watch how the value of older cars soar.
On the other hand, if they were fitted to our cars, there would be no need for Gatso's, truvelo's etc and the police can return to arresting proper criminals instead of hiding in bushes with a laser.
After a few months of succesful patting on backs and look how this government has solved the speeding majority, we can put the GPS unit in a lead box and speed to our hearts content. After all, anyone with a GPS route finder will tell you its quite easy to loose your signal.
Watch how the value of older cars soar.
On the other hand, if they were fitted to our cars, there would be no need for Gatso's, truvelo's etc and the police can return to arresting proper criminals instead of hiding in bushes with a laser.
After a few months of succesful patting on backs and look how this government has solved the speeding majority, we can put the GPS unit in a lead box and speed to our hearts content. After all, anyone with a GPS route finder will tell you its quite easy to loose your signal.
Personally I think these systems won't roll out effectively. Largely because
1) You can press the override button.
2) No one will buy a car in which you cannot press the override button
If you imagine a system a bit like "cruise control" that uses radar to avoid catching up the car in front and GPS to adhere to the speed limit I can imagine people speccing it on their luxo-barges.
But the default setting would be "off" I'll bet...
If they ever made it mandatory...I'd run a "Classic" car which didn't have it fitted.
1) You can press the override button.
2) No one will buy a car in which you cannot press the override button
If you imagine a system a bit like "cruise control" that uses radar to avoid catching up the car in front and GPS to adhere to the speed limit I can imagine people speccing it on their luxo-barges.
But the default setting would be "off" I'll bet...
If they ever made it mandatory...I'd run a "Classic" car which didn't have it fitted.
Strangly enough I find myself not having a problem with this, just as long as I've not got one on my car of course 
To a lot of numpties I can see it being welcomed with open arms as a factory fit cure for speed camera offences, it will not make the roads any safer though.
And at least when you are overtaking Rep-man he will not be able to speed up and make like difficult for you
To a lot of numpties I can see it being welcomed with open arms as a factory fit cure for speed camera offences, it will not make the roads any safer though.
And at least when you are overtaking Rep-man he will not be able to speed up and make like difficult for you
So you could technically drive one of these wheeled 1984s down the pavement on the wrong side of the road outside a school at closing time with your foot welded to the floor and according to the government's computers not be breaking the law. What if the system goes wrong and jams your car at 70? The more nannying technology gets into cars, the more complacent the average driver becomes, driving more recklessly as he or she thinks to themselves 'I can't break the speed limit because of the limiter, I can't spin off due to traction control, I can't lock my brakes due to ABS, I have an LSD to stop wheelspin, My super-advanced numptybox also changes gear for me and satnav tells me where the best congestion charging zones are. I'll just get in and steer.' Watch the accident rates soar - especially on motorways. The government are trying to turn our prides and joys into that dreaded numpty descrption - "box that goes from A to B". Sorry, but the only thing I can think of that fits that descrption is a bus. Get out of our lives you control-freak bastards. We put you there in a democracy. It looks like you'll leave us with a secret dictatorship.
!! ALARM BELLS ARE SOUNDING !!
Hackers are going to love this one. Imagine for a minute what happens when people start fiddling with their little black boxes. Mail order companies will be offering "superchip" conversions that increase top speed, or allow the emergency override button to work for 10 seconds more or permanently.
Just as the beaurocrats said that no-one would ever take off a catalytic converter or cheat a tacho disc, the system will be open to abuse.
What happens when it all goes wrong? When the "brain" computes a fatal error has occurred (aka blue screen of death) and jams the brakes on at 70 mph. How about taking a nice sweeping left-hander at 60, just as the brain decides to reduce the speed due to a glitch to 30 - with braking? ! I would not trust the technology after all who is the driver of the car,"KIT" or me? Would insurance premiums be halved? Don't think so.
Hackers are going to love this one. Imagine for a minute what happens when people start fiddling with their little black boxes. Mail order companies will be offering "superchip" conversions that increase top speed, or allow the emergency override button to work for 10 seconds more or permanently.
Just as the beaurocrats said that no-one would ever take off a catalytic converter or cheat a tacho disc, the system will be open to abuse.
What happens when it all goes wrong? When the "brain" computes a fatal error has occurred (aka blue screen of death) and jams the brakes on at 70 mph. How about taking a nice sweeping left-hander at 60, just as the brain decides to reduce the speed due to a glitch to 30 - with braking? ! I would not trust the technology after all who is the driver of the car,"KIT" or me? Would insurance premiums be halved? Don't think so.
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