Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Volvo To Impose 112mph Speed Limit On All New Cars From 2020 (theguardian.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the safety-first dept.

Volvo will limit the top speed to 112mph on all its new cars from 2020 in an attempt to reduce the number of accidents. "The cap will prevent drivers from accelerating to the top speeds of up to 155mph many Volvos can reach," reports The Guardian. From the report: Volvo is believed to be the first carmaker to install the cap across its entire range. Police vehicles will be exempt. Similar technology has been installed on several high-performance cars in Germany, but at a much higher speed limit. The general speed limit for motorways in EU member states is 75-80mph (120-130km/h). Germany does not have a general cap for motorways but recommends a speed of up to 80mph. Speeding remained one of the main contributors to road deaths, Volvo said, along with drug and drink intoxication and mobile phone use. Volvo is also exploring how geofencing -- a virtual geographic boundary defined by GPS technology -- can be used to automatically limit speeds around schools and hospitals. Hakan Samuelsson, Volvo's president and chief executive, said: "While a speed limitation is not a cure-all, it's worth doing if we can even save one life. We want to start a conversation about whether carmakers have the right or maybe even an obligation to install technology in cars that changes their driver's behavior."

7 of 534 comments (clear)

  1. 112 speedo limit is fine.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Volvo is also exploring how geofencing -- a virtual geographic boundary defined by GPS technology -- can be used to automatically limit speeds around schools and hospitals." - This part, this is a very very very bad idea.

    1. Re:112 speedo limit is fine.... by rmdingler · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The threat to your poor sickly mother has to at least be weighed against the threat to other drivers, including someone else's perfectly healthy mother headed down the autobahn to market.

      That, and if your auto hits a fat rabbit at 112 mph, you and mother are going to arrive at the hospital in another vehicle... one with lights and a siren.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    2. Re:112 speedo limit is fine.... by rogoshen1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What if at some point in time, the powers that be deem 80 MPH as being too fast?

      What if your insurance company gets wind of this, and offers a better rate if you opt in to some kind of governor? (and eventually makes it cost prohibitive to not opt in?)

      Part of living in a free god damn society is having the freedom to do questionable, potentially stupid things. The individual learns from their mistakes, and is better for it. The problem with "but your rights end at wherever" argument is that it's an ever shifting, subjective line. And probably tends to get more and more narrow over time.

      I'd rather live with some amount of risk than limiting everyone to the equivalent of safety scissors and butter knives.

  2. Why would I buy this? by zippo01 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why would I buy something that comes with arbitrary limits? Maybe if I was a rental car company, business or government, but as an individual this would be a massive turn off. If I want to kill myself at 113 MPH, volvo shouldn't stop me.

  3. This is for tire ratings ... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Volvo can put cheaper tires on their cars from the factory to avoid liability. 112 mph = 180km/h. I suspect this will be quietly removable with the proper scan software, same as many GM cars are.

  4. German here. Dear Americans ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... please do not think German drivers only need to fulfil the same requirements, that people in the US need to before they are allowed on to drive on the roads.

    In Germany we have extensive schooling, many hours of practical training, and strict driving test that you are expected to fail at the slightest misstep. And it's *expensive*. You usually pay a couple of *thousand* bucks for the whole thing.
    On the streets, every driver *expects* you to drive properly. With far more rules. (Like not overtaking on the right lane.)

    And you see this. Everything flows far more elegantly. People are skilled and proud of it.

    Of course since alcohol is our national dish, you will still have morons driving drunk and messing up on weekend nights and the like. But they only need to be caught once, and their license is *gone*. (They have to take the "idiot test" to get it back. Which is not much better than starting from scratch, afaik.)

    That is why we don't have speed limits for about 50% of the highway (= Autobahn). We can handle it!

    (I recommend taking the additional lessons for avoiding crashes. You get to learn ice drifting and other cool maneuvers like a pro. Just in case.)

    I wish the US also had a culture of not expecting everyone to be a moron until they are. It feels lime that attitude is the main breeding ground for morons in the first place.

  5. Re:Just one life by sandmaninator · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Volvo will have rear-facing cameras for pyroclastic flow detection and in the event one is seen approaching the vehicle, the speed limiter is lifted.