Slashdot Mirror
Australia, UK To Test Vehicle Speed-Limiting Devices
nemesisrocks writes "The New South Wales government is set to begin testing a device that will limit the speed of drivers because 'excessive speed is one of the primary ways that people are killed while driving.' Located on the dashboard, it senses a driver's speed with the use of GPS. If the speed of a car goes over the posted legal limit, a warning sounds. If the driver ignores the warning, the device eventually cuts all power to the car because a cut-off switch has been installed between the accelerator and the engine."
The Times Online reports that the same system will be tested in the UK this summer for use in taxis and buses.
Speed zones are designed mainly to inform drivers that they are breaking the law so that they can be legally prosecuted in a court of law, if for example they blindingly come off of a highway and continue to do highway speeds in a residential zone, while turning a blind corner with oncoming traffic, then denying other drivers access to the road by cutting them off, then turning a bend and hitting a lamppost sending the body of the vehicle into the front living room of a house killing the entire family as they watch Neighbours on tv, then I would want that person to be prosecuted!
I see that kind of reckless behaviour every couple of hours on my residential street (50km/h) because I live right next to the highway (80-110km/h), they use my street as a shortcut to get away from the busy highway traffic, its extremely dangerous but they don't care, they think that as long as they have grip then they are invincible, but what if someday I accidentally let my engine's oil container tip over into the drain system, or maybe I didn't dispose of the antifreeze properly, then there goes their grip.
I for one would want those sorts of people to be prosecuted, especially considering I lost two family friends to high speed colissions with street poles just in the last 6 years.
Also If you tamper with the system no doubt the yearly vehicle inspection officer will notice any sort of tampering and revoke your vehicle's roadworthy status, no doubt even if its just a little dab of solder in the right place, he has been around and has probably seen a zillion of these installations and knows exactly how they are installed so a confirmation of tampering would be a piece of piss for him.
Australians have very stringent yearly vehicle roadworthyness checkups for vehicles 5 years or older, and if any of them fail you can be denied a "pink slip" which prevents you from having a registered vehicle and not having a registered vehicle in australia could cost you your job.
Australian RTA/Police don't screw around, for example today I seen an undercover Mitsubishi Lancer with a little blue flashy light ontop, and two police officers with full bulletproof vest stopped a souped up Holden Commodore with a female driver and a tuned Nissan X-Trail with male driver from racing, pulled them over and handcuffed them to the side rails, it was humourous to watch the expressions on their faces because they were stopped right next to a busy street light, so everybody got to have a good look as the other drivers stopped for the red lights, hahaha.