Speed Limiters Now Mandatory In All New EU Cars (autoweek.com) 406
An anonymous reader shares a report: Cars have been able to figure out when they're speeding for a while, thanks to GPS as well as traffic sign recognition, and they've also been able to pump the brakes automatically when needed. Having a computer automatically slow down a car in response to posted speed limits, therefore, was not really a question of technical feasibility for some time -- but mandating it has been a question of political will. That political will has materialized in the European Union, and starting July 7 all new cars sold in the EU will feature intelligent speed assistance (ISA) systems.
The systems themselves have been working their way into newly introduced models of cars starting in 2022, so quite a few new cars on the road already feature them. The July 2024 regulation extends that mandate to all new vehicles being manufactured for sale in the EU. The objective is to protect Europeans against traffic accidents, poor air quality and climate change, empower them with new mobility solutions that match their changing needs, and defend the competitiveness of European industry," the European Commission said in a statement. The systems themselves operate through traffic sign recognition, as well as navigation systems. There will be four ways in which ISA systems will work to slow the vehicle down, and it will be up to the manufacturers to pick which one they want to use. The EU regulations permit a system that can use a cascaded acoustic warning, a cascaded vibrating warning, an accelerator pedal with haptic feedback, or a speed control function in which the speed of the vehicle will be gradually reduced.
The systems themselves have been working their way into newly introduced models of cars starting in 2022, so quite a few new cars on the road already feature them. The July 2024 regulation extends that mandate to all new vehicles being manufactured for sale in the EU. The objective is to protect Europeans against traffic accidents, poor air quality and climate change, empower them with new mobility solutions that match their changing needs, and defend the competitiveness of European industry," the European Commission said in a statement. The systems themselves operate through traffic sign recognition, as well as navigation systems. There will be four ways in which ISA systems will work to slow the vehicle down, and it will be up to the manufacturers to pick which one they want to use. The EU regulations permit a system that can use a cascaded acoustic warning, a cascaded vibrating warning, an accelerator pedal with haptic feedback, or a speed control function in which the speed of the vehicle will be gradually reduced.
Wonder if there is an emergency mode (Score:4, Interesting)
It would be nice if I could exceed the speed limit to get my kid to the hospital in an emergency, if conditions allowed it.
Re:Wonder if there is an emergency mode (Score:4, Interesting)
3 of the 4 methods definitely allow that, and the 4th depends on how aggressive the slowly reduce speed is.
It'd be interesting to see how much travel time they actually add in a remote emergency situation though.
Re:Wonder if there is an emergency mode (Score:5, Insightful)
We've all been on the road to have another car blast past you way over the limit only to end up both stopped at the same traffic light. There's also diminishing returns at highway speeds, going 80 vs 70 may save you minutes but if a crisis is that important I'd rather my kid wait for an ambulance and ride with the care of an EMT than in my backseat with my attention divided.
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There is a big difference between local roads and highways when it comes to speed. At 5:30 in the morning, on the highway, doing 75-80 miles per hour is very safe, and honestly, doing below 70 might be seen as obstructing the normal flow of traffic at that hour with low traffic volume. When you need to drive 60 miles(96.5km) to get to work, losing 10 minutes on the drive to driving slower is going to make the commute take an extra 15-20 minutes as traffic volumes increase once you get to 6:00 in the mor
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This is total semantics dome but sure:
None of that involves breaking the law (in spirit which is keeping with the flow of traffic) which is what OP describes. Nobody has an issue with that.
If traffic isn't low times are far more equalized.
Very small percentage of people have daily a commute of 60 miles (120mi round trip?) Average per day is 42 miles total with most commutes being under 20 miles.
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The median Canadian commute is 8.7 km.
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We've all been on the road where a faster car makes the light and you don't. It cuts both ways. One thing's for sure, waiting for an ambulance in an emergency is frequently NOT an option.
Re:Wonder if there is an emergency mode (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah but we would say that guy who broke the law to make the light should be discouraged from doing that right? It's not good in the societal sense to have people speeding on the roads right?
One thing's for sure, waiting for an ambulance in an emergency is frequently NOT an option.
Unless the person with the problem is also actually still mobile enough to get to the car it frequently is the only option and it's a better option than expecting people to execute dangerous driving (while they are distracted and distraught no less). If ambulances are slow (and in the US too expensive) then that's the issue to fix.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
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That can all be true but that is not a good argument against this type of law. We can't design laws around extreme edge cases.
I still would have taken them to the hospital, and I would have had a legal defense against any charge of drunk driving for doing so.
Probably but not if you had an accident, you'd still be found liable, if not criminally than civilly. This is an edge case and edge cases end up in front of a judge usually, that's how they become edge cases.
and had I been pulled over for such an offense (I was not, again, nobody around) do you really think an officer would have issued that ticket once he saw the blood soaked human moaning in agony?
They probably would have provided you an escort, as they should so that you could travel fast and reduce the danger. Did you call the local line and let them know you had this
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If we don't want to be treated like children then we shouldn't act like it. Roads are a shared public space, not your personal property and in public spaces we get to set rules for everyone to follow even if they seem obvious. There's no rule to wear a seatbelt on private roads.
You may not like seatbelt and airbag laws and requirements but the results cut against that pretty heavily and sometimes yes the state has to do things like a parent would say "for your own good because you are still a stupid kid a
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Is English not your native language or are you being deliberately obtuse? I have no issue whatsoever with seatbelt laws, drunk driving laws, speed limits, etc. My complaint throughout this thread is with mandated technology being installed in my car, at my expense to try and nag me into following the laws that I am already obeying.
Do you not understand these are all the same? You paid for a 3 point belt, airbags, traffic avoidance, a backup camera, emissions systems and every other requirement we use for motor vehichles. "I don't like this one" is a good argument on the whole? Have some data that shows this system would acutally cause more problems than it solves, that's good argumentation. This just comes off as petulant and weakens your side of the argument.
Do you honestly think the seat belt nag actually makes people who would not otherwise wear a seat belt to do so? I assure you it does no
Yes, i believe it does. Most people will just wear the belt, your step-f
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I remember reading about a case of the officer who apparently had to delay his right-hand turn from a parking lot onto the street by an ambulance with its lights going, pulling in behind the ambulance and turning his lights on. Followed the ambulance to the hospital. Proceeded to do a felony arrest on the paramedic driver for "not making way" and "evading arrest" for "not pulling over for his lights".
Mind you, this was a full up "every second could mean the difference between life and death" where there's
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Why do we need more than that? Especially some mechanical device that might fail or distract a driver at a very bad moment.
Because people are falliable and when driving 2 tons of steel at 80mph we are dealing with kinetic forces and consequences that are unlike most other things we expereience daily. Theres a reason by probability getting in your car is the most dangerous thing you do everyday.
I would agree we could ease some of this with more restrictions on who can drive and what the qualifications are.
Ther German autobahns famously have no speed limits. Also in Germany though it takes 14 90-minute driving theory classes an
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Oh yeah I acknowledge that even in America drivers are variable. My state in the South I see at least 1 complete dumbass move every drive I take (especially the classic missed your exit so cut across 2-3 lanes istead of waiting for the next one) whereas in California even though there was more traffic people drove a bit more considerately, at least from my POV.
Yeah theres something to be said about the much more stringent requirements in Europe to drive, which we should adopt some of, but cars are so ingr
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That's a separate issue with separate solutions, but correct in that people should not be faced with that choice due to poor service.
But a better argument against this law is needed than "something else sucks so I have to break the law".
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Yet in the US it's not even "poor service" but no service at all. Didn't pay your monthly emergency services fee? No service for you, poor or otherwise.
Given that you pay for emergency services a la carte now, with no guarantee of service, it seems reasonable to let the "free market" decide. Can't have that, though, gotta stack the deck.
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I agree 100% but that is not an argument against this law in question, that's an argument to improve health care and ambulance services. .
I would say timely ambulances are a crucial part of a health care system full stop and specifically should not be "free market". The market itself creates a lot of scarcity problems by the very fact of doing it that way, when ambulances rely on profits to operate they are going to make moves to maximize their profit, not necessarily best outcomes.
Something I always think
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I'd say it's misconstrued. Getting an Ambulance ride does have an emergency service fee for that service, But you would receive the bill after the ride -- or more likely: Insurance will cover the fee after the ride.
Similarly: Hospitals have an emergency room fee for admission there. And once again; the fee is a bill charged after using the service. it's Not a case where you'd have to hand them cash or swipe a credit card before they act to address the immediate emergency. The hospitals will sometim
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Most competent drivers can speed carefully.
Mostly but I don't think the drivers themselves are good judges of that. Also consider this would be a very high stress situation.
If you're trying to save a life, taking unnecessary risks is a good way to endanger the person further.
I agree but the necessity of the risk is exactly what we are talking about and who gets to make that call and what happens if the consequence of that behavior is further injury to either or a 3rd party. If you are driving someone to the hospital but following reasonable traffic laws I don't think anyone is concerned about that, the case of potential recklessnes is exactly the
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I would think k record low response times actually means the ambulance is a better idea?
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It will depend on the circumstance. Studies about people speeding show they only arrive a few seconds to a few minutes [hiroad.com] earlier than someone else driving the speed limit (for a trip less than 50 miles). Also, by speeding, you are using more fuel/charge due to need to get up to speed and maintain that speed.
To the OP's point, there's always that one which has to bring up an ulikely scenario. P
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It would be nice if I could exceed the speed limit to get my kid to the hospital in an emergency, if conditions allowed it.
People have different understanding of what an emergency is. It may be delivering a sick kitten to a veterinary clinic. Or a grandma who does not answer the phone-call. Or an iron that was probably left switched on. Or a depressive condition that requires some fast driving to clear the head. And so on and so forth.
However exceeding the speed limit may lead to an accident that would slow down everyone for hours.
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"Sorry I clipped you running the red at 75 in a 40, someones having a heart attack!. Well at least now there are 2 ambulances on their way"
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It would be nice if I could exceed the speed limit to get my kid to the hospital in an emergency, if conditions allowed it.
The EU knows better than you. They are doing this because it is the will of their citizens.
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
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Yes, all of these things are mandated by people who've never lived outside of a city with mass transit.
The number of times I've had to rush due to life safety (which could include fleeing a road rage incident, responding to a natural disaster, rushing someone to the hospital) is a long ways from zero.
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Re: Wonder if there is an emergency mode (Score:3)
How does that justify speeding? Were you going to deliver the baby?
I doubt this has anything to do with Nanny state (Score:3)
The way you stop that is teaching people & kids that name recognition is now how you pick a candidate. That's why you need so much money in politics. Half the country just votes for whatever name they saw on a sign.
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This functionality has been a part of Tesla's autopilot for some time, in an opt-in capacity. To override, you simply just need to scroll the right thumb-wheel up to increase the speed limiter when autopilot / cruise control is enabled, disable autopilot / cruise control and opt for manual control, or go into the autopilot settings and disable the behavior with one toggle switch.
I can't imagine anyone would implement this in a different way, unless mandated by governmental regulation to do so. Well, unless
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The ratio of actual emergencies to idiots abusing such a mode for speeding is 1:10000 if not more. That's the main reason for such a law.
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It would be nice if I could exceed the speed limit to get my kid to the hospital in an emergency, if conditions allowed it.
If you need to speed to get your kid to hospital you're a horrible fucking parent for not calling them an ambulance. Way to go not only making sure your kid gets to their emergency slower, but also putting their life as well as the lives of others in danger.
Hand in your fucking drivers license moron.
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Oh, your police/ ambulance service is inadequate? Remember every time you voted for someone promising "lower taxes". Well, you've had your lower taxes, and now you've got a dead kid. But a fuller bank balance. You can use the bank balance to buy another kid.
Meaning like it or not, you car needs to be online (Score:2, Interesting)
I've been dithering on whether to buy a new car for 2 or 3 years because I really don't like cars being online and reporting all I do and everywhere I go to the manufacturer.
And now cars are legally obligated to do that in the EU to get up-to-date maps.
Well, fuck that: I've decided the bus is a better alternative. No new car for me.
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There's always a silver lining. Bye.
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What part of "I've been dithering on whether to buy a new car" don't you understand?
I don't need a car. I have an old minivan that I mostly never use. I keep it for the odd occasion, but mostly I ride the bus.
But I'm at that age when I'd like to treat myself and buy me a nice electric car, and then in a few years, give it to my son.
But cars these days are privacy nightmares, and it seems now at least in the EU, this state of affairs is enshrined into law. So I guess it's not gonna happen.
Simple... (Score:2)
If they try importing this over here to the US, I'll not be buying any new European cars...
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FUCK THIS.
If they try importing this over here to the US, I'll not be buying any new European cars...
Yeah, right. Our control-freak government won't be able to resist this temptation if they pay attention to it. Anything to exert control in the supposed name of safety. Granted, they may not bother since most of the government officials steeped in the ways of traffic control are currently obsessed with the fantasy of computer controlled cars that *NO ONE* drives, because again, supposedly, safety.
We live in a fascist world now. Every government wants complete control, and dipshit constituents eat that shit
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Congress already mandated this.
Only Thomas Massie made a stink about it, as he does most things of tyranny. Hell, he probably has an account on here being an old-school alpha nerd.
His wife was mysteriously killed last week, so be kind while searching his Twitter.
Won't someone think of the children?! (Score:2)
Governments love setting precedent that allows them to take much stronger action in the future. Sorry, but now we're taking away your cars to protect Europeans against traffic accidents, poor air quality and climate change.
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Imagine all the pensions and other safety nets that will go unfunded and rob you of your security when you get too old to be useful to society. There's a reason why population collapse is seen as a VERY bad thing in countries like Japan and South Korea and it has nothing to do with tourism.
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Imagine we didn't live beyond our means and accepted a slightly lowee standard of living so we could support ourselves in old age rather than depend on an ever-growing population.
That ride can't go forever, and the longer we ride, the worse the crash.
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Oh so you live in a fantasy land.
Speed "limiter" is a misnomer (Score:5, Informative)
It is not a speed limiter. It does not limit your maximum speed. Cars in the EU can still go as fast as they did before. The now-mandated tech is a system that ingests speed limit data and notifies you that you are about to exceed it. If you want to, that's still your choice.
Doesn't sound as bad now, does it? In fact, I'd bet a lot of cars sold in the US have this same feature, it's just that it's either off by default or you've been happily ignoring it. Every car I've owned for the last several years have had it, even though it wasn't a requirement then.
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Re:Speed "limiter" is a misnomer (Score:5, Interesting)
Indeed. However, there are still big flaws in the system.
I have a new electric Volvo XC40 (new job), and it includes such a system. However, I think that 25% to 40% of its indications are incorrect.
This is off the top of my head, but there are definitely a whole lot of other places where the indication is incorrect.
And its not because the system is not precise. At one point this weekend I was on a part of a road where there was an overtaking ban. The signal started and stopped exactly at the start and end of the road mark.
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Actually, I have a funny one as well...
There's a road here in California called Pacific Coast Highway. As the name implies, it runs along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Very scenic.
Where I live, there's a stretch of that road where the speed limit is 60 mph. Now because this road is by the ocean, there's a big parking lot for all the people to park their cars at the beach. And there's a service road for you to drive along to enter the parking lot. And the speed limit on this service road is 15 mph.
And
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Four options are giving to manufacturers, with the last option being:
"or a speed control function in which the speed of the vehicle will be gradually reduced."
That sounds rather like "speed limiting" to me, does it not?
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So something that aggravates, annoys, and distracts you while driving at a fast speed? Awesome! That's exactly what I need. Make it sound like a whiny spouse complaining you're going too fast and it'll be perfect.
Re: Speed "limiter" is a misnomer (Score:2)
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If you can bypass it by just pressing the pedal little harder, it is not limiting anything. All 4 options alert the driver, with the last one being a little more pushy by slowing the car down slightly if you do nothing. But for all the people worried about "what about this strange fringe reason that maybe I need to go 150 MPH" that is still doable. I would hope this also comes with a large increase in speeding fines (at least in cars with this installed) as there is no way for the person to not know they we
"empower them with new mobility solutions..." ??? (Score:3)
What marketing moron developed this statement:
empower them with new mobility solutions that match their changing needs,
That's some Grade A bullshittery.
OMG, and they call it "Intelligent Speed Assistance" LOL.
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What marketing moron developed this statement:
empower them with new mobility solutions that match their changing needs,
That's some Grade A bullshittery.
OMG, and they call it "Intelligent Speed Assistance" LOL.
They're taking directions from American fantasy peddlers. Empowerment now means enslavement. Intelligent now means anything attached to a computer, no matter how dumb the computer. Safety now means clamped to a bed in a rubber room for your own well-being. Enjoy!
Noise (Score:5, Insightful)
Could we please get a maximum noise limit on cars, motorbikes, and scooters. At least within city limits.
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only a few speeders (Score:2)
I did some traffic profiling recently with a speed monitoring device I built. You set it down next to a road and it estimates the speed of passing vehicles by measuring the amount of time it takes them to pass across the viewport of a small camera. I did some multi-day data gathering at several sites around where I live.
What I found is that the vast majority of people drive responsibly and stay pretty close to the speed limit. Maybe 15% drive a little faster but not alarmingly much. Only about 5% of the tra
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Unintended side effects (Score:2)
Fast cars and faster women? (Score:2)
Well, this story certainly touched a nerve, but no Funny showing so far.
Me? I haven't driven in decades and my recent sex life would bore the Pope to tears. One out of two ain't bad in relation to the average Slashdot nerd? Oh well.
(But I drove plenty of cars and motorcycles and even a few airplanes in my wild and crazy youth... Also too many helicopter rides, but one is too many. And lucky to have survived a couple of adverse events...)
But I'm already beginning to regard Slashdot as too low a return on my
what happens if... (Score:2)
What happens if GPS has an error and it reads you as being on a different road or an access road with a reduced speed limit. All cars on the highway are reduced to residential speeds because the GPS satellite is having an issue and it thinks all vehicles are 50 miles/KM away on a different residential road. If you've ever experienced a GPS satellite failure there can be a lot of error in where you are perceived to be.
This highway brought to you by... (Score:4, Funny)
That's it! A system to give you pop-up ads if you're speeding! Don't want ads, stay under the speed limit. Go a little over, get a static text ad. Go a medium bit over get a video ad. Go a lot over, get a loud, obnoxious ad playing over the audio system without regard to the volume setting.
Outta my way, I have to call the patent office!
EU autocrats (Score:2)
Near my house is a bridge that crosses another road at a shallow angle. The road on the bridge has a speed limit if 80. The road below is 30. Every nav program gets confused as to which road you are on.
Another example: a highway with an access road immediately next to it. Nav systems are never sure which road you are on.
Finally: EU regulations "encourage" speedometers to report a higher speed than you are actually traveling. Not only for this reason, but literally everyone's speefs by a few kmh on an open
you must buy navigation plan or no car for you! (Score:2)
you must buy navigation plan or no car for you!
as our system needs navigation data to work.
What used to take two hours now takes all day (Score:2)
I can't drive 55
Needs one additional feature (Score:2)
If you speed in a school zone, then with no warning it ejects the driver from the car, then purposefully self destructs the motor.
Nanny? Is that you? (Score:2, Insightful)
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Enough said.
Drivers the world over have proven without a doubt that they need a nanny. The problem is they give drivers licenses to everyone, not just responsible people. Look around you, half the people sharing the road with you are below average intelligence. Even if you do everything right, there's still a good chance someone else will kill you. That's why we have limits and law enforcement in the first place.
Speed limit recognition so very often wrong (Score:5, Interesting)
[Belgium, so EU] My 2020 Toyota Corolla has speed sign recognition, but it keeps seeing speed stickers on the back of trucks (applied three next to one another) as actual speed limit signs. It also fails to recognize about 80% of end of speed zone signs. It furthermore fails to realize about 100% of the time that a speed limit sign only applies to the next intersection with a road coming from the right. The technology still leave TONS of room for improvement.
Multiple speed limits on one roadway (Score:5, Insightful)
Does this mean that they also figured out how to differentiate which speed limit applies? If they have, I'd like to hear about it. It's nice that my car cameras can pick up speed limit signs independently of any data connection, but when a single segment of roadway has multiple speed limit signs (speed limit, truck with trailers limit, bus limit, and minimum speed...I'm looking at you, Illinois tollway) and the speed-limit aware cruise control can't figure out which is which, it makes for a dynamic time.
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Does this mean that they also figured out how to differentiate which speed limit applies? If they have, I'd like to hear about it.
Mine does, but it can't read the time so when variable speed limits apply for certain times it displays the higher of the two along with a box that says "Time" underneath it. It also has no problem reading the dynamic signs over the highway. But it does have problems with the all-clear sign. Likewise when there's a different sign for trucks and cars it also defaults to the highest one.
The only one it really gets wrong is the signs on the autobahn which enforce a speed limit only when the road is wet.
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I do believe in the US, at least one house of Congress is trying to mandate that Federally....I think I read that recently?
Re: What Is Next? (Score:2)
No way. How would any of them be able to drive then?
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I do believe in the US, at least one house of Congress is trying to mandate that Federally....I think I read that recently?
Good news: it failed:
https://www.congress.gov/amend... [congress.gov]
It'll likely go to a rebranding workshop and be added in a year or two, but for the moment, it looks like cars won't be *mandated* to do it in 2026...doesn't mean that Ford and Toyota won't voluntarily implement it.
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A local Congresswoman was one of TWO Democrats that voted in favor of repealing this mandate. She happens to own an auto repair business and presumably knows what a stupid unpractical idea this is.
Or maybe she's worried about her shop losing business because of this mandate ?
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I was going to post that yes, some politicians are trying to push for the, "assume that everyone drives while drunk" laws. The problem is, people will come up with another way to get alcohol into their system, so they will drive while drunk ANYWAY, and without some interlock system being able to stop it.
Re: Well of course they did (Score:2)
How does consumer choice hurt you?
We already have speed limits.
Taxing the top 0.01% of rich people more isn't going to hurt you. (I know, I know, you're about to suddenly get rich and you're just trying to look out for future you, but if you have 100B in the bank, you can afford to pay more than 3.5% income tax) https://www.propublica.org/art... [propublica.org]
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How does consumer choice hurt you?
We already have speed limits.
Taxing the top 0.01% of rich people more isn't going to hurt you. (I know, I know, you're about to suddenly get rich and you're just trying to look out for future you, but if you have 100B in the bank, you can afford to pay more than 3.5% income tax) https://www.propublica.org/art... [propublica.org]
I'm somewhat curious as to how more taxing of the rich is intended to occur. The type of wealthy individuals that people typically cry about not "paying their fair share" do not have an income to tax as such, their wealth is held in investments, which are only taxed on realized gains, not unrealized ones, because until they are realized they do not exist. It is how billionaires are able to be billionaires, by owning investments in successful companies or indexes where the value of those investments has made
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This is what happens when people think the govt knows more about how they should live their lives than people do.
Yesterday, it was all app stores must be permitted.
Today, it's we will limit your car's speed.
I just wanted to ask about this equivalence; they don't *quite* seem to align.
In the first case, the premise is "I want to run apps on my phone which aren't blessed by Apple, but there is an artificial software constraint in my way from Apple that prohibits me from doing so." The EU government went to Apple and said, "you must enable users to remove that software constraint if they so choose."
In the second case, the premise is "the government has decided on speed limits, and that same government seeks to im
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"Today, it's we will limit your car's speed."
LOL, you're really not gonna like finding out about speed limits.
And government doesn't have to care how you live your life to care about you killing people. Traffic is regulated with good reason.
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You can.
Cars kill 40,000 people a year in the US. Quite a bit.
Re:Nice (Score:5, Informative)
"There will be four ways in which ISA systems will work to slow the vehicle down, and it will be up to the manufacturers to pick which one they want to use. The EU regulations permit a system that can use a cascaded acoustic warning, a cascaded vibrating warning, an accelerator pedal with haptic feedback, or a speed control function in which the speed of the vehicle will be gradually reduced.
As you've noticed, the first two options may not quite compel any actual changes in speed on the part of the vehicle, and that's by design. They will also have to be short in duration not to annoy the driver. The latter two options will also have ways for drivers to easily override the warnings, with extra pressure on the pedal by the driver in the case of haptic feedback neutralizing the pushback from the pedal.
"Even in the case of speed control function, where the car speed will be automatically gently reduced, the system can be smoothly overridden by the driver by pressing the accelerator pedal a little bit deeper," the European Commission adds.
The main question, of course, is if these systems are so easy to ignore, will they have a measurable effect on the rate of traffic accidents that are linked to speeding, or will they become another system that will be easy to tune out, like pop-up ads?"
Now check your knee in case the articulation is damaged after so much jerking...
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Thank you for sharing that story, I couldn't recall it. Kudos to him for managing 110 on Spirit Lake Hwy and surviving.
Re:Nice (Score:5, Interesting)
Now, the next one doesn't involve speeding away, but it does involve trusting Big Brother to tell you what to do. Just remember those folks who tried to leave that town in Maui that completely burned down. The cops blocked off the escape route out of town with a roadblock. People saw and heard about it and and stayed home. Those people fucking died. Some didn't die but hit the roadblock, couldn't go around (cops did a pretty good job of blocking if you watch the videos) and ended up in the goddamn ocean to escape the fire. Whatever they tell you to do, think hard and definitely consider doing the exact opposite.
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How many people a year would you need to see die before you were prepared to have speed limiters?
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That isn't his complaint.
It's the idiotic double speak in "empower them with new mobility solutions that match their changing needs"
Or did you not bother reading his post?
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Most accidents are driver error anyway.
"speed is a contributor" is what is often cited, but it's a self serving addendum made by agencies that rely on ticketing revenue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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Yeah, see, reading is important. The change is going forward, you can't disable it, and there IS an option for systems that actively slow you back down to the current limit.
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It ain't just Europe. I've had some really nice newer cars, but "always on" safety features have screwed up the experience every time. I believe my favorite was my Saturn Aura (2013) with always on traction control, impossible to turn off. Meaning the hill I used to be able to make my way up with a very controlled spin was no longer passable when covered in glare ice. I had to have someone tow me up that hill if I hit the wrong patch of ice on a snowy morning, and there was nothing that could be done about
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Then there's the question of what happens when things go wrong? Car's on the highway in a 65-70 zone, but thinks it's on that little residential side street running parallel to the highway just across that ditch - is it going to suddenly slam on the brakes and slow down to 25? You'll be roadkill. Car doesn't detect a new speed limit sign? Navigation system isn't working? What does it do then?
That's nothing new and you have the same issues already with Adaptive Cruise Control, which has been on the roads for quite a while now.
As example, last long trip I made on the highway with AAC the car suddenly decided the speed limit was 30 instead of 75 due to a roadwork sign on the side which was not meant for the highway itself: the car started to slow down attempting to match what it believed to be the new speed limit, but I just had to press the accelerator pedal to override it.
I consider this EU spee
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They won't. Most people prefer to stay ignorant and act like sheep.