Volvo To Add In-Car Sensors To Prevent Drunk Driving (reuters.com)

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Volvo To Add In-Car Sensors To Prevent Drunk Driving (reuters.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Wednesday March 20, 2019 @12:20PM from the safety-first dept.

Volvo is installing cameras and sensors in its cars from the early 2020s, monitoring drivers for signs of being drunk or distracted and intervening to prevent accidents. These new safety features come a couple weeks after the automaker announced it will limit the top speed to 112mph on all its new cars from 2020 to help reduce the number of accidents. Reuters reports: Head of R&D Henrik Green said cameras will be installed on all Volvo models built on its SPA2 platform for larger cars, starting from the XC90 SUV in the early part of the next decade, before being added to smaller cars built on its CMA platform. Volvo said intervention if the driver is found to be drunk, tired or distracted by checking a mobile phone - among the biggest factors in accidents - could involve limiting the car's speed, alerting the Volvo on Call assistance service, or slowing down and parking the car.

CEO Hakan Samuelsson said that while the strategies meant Volvo might lose some customers keen on high speeds, it also opened opportunities to win parents who wanted to buy the safest car to carry their children. "It would be easy to say that people can do whatever they like but we feel we have a responsibility to do this. Maybe people will see us as 'Big Brother,' but if we save some lives then it's worth it," he told journalists. Volvo also said it would introduce Care Key on cars from 2021, allowing buyers to set speed limits, and that it was talking to insurers to offer better terms for users of these safety features.

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Re:Keen on high speeds? by Harlequin80 · 2019-03-20 12:34 · Score: 1

Quite a few, Germany is one. And then there are the places where though illegal it is the norm to drive those speeds. Italy for example.
Re:Keen on high speeds? by AHuxley · 2019-03-20 12:36 · Score: 1

Germany for now.

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The More you add the more it fails by rtb61 · 2019-03-20 12:37 · Score: 4, Insightful

They have to be extremely careful adding this stuff to vehicles, when it fails, for what ever reason, it denies access to the vehicle by the owner. The more tech you add, the greater the servicing cost and the more frequent failures will be and the worse the reputation of the vehicle. You can add all the silly crap in you want to, inflate service and repair costs but there will be consequences. There a numerous studies on the more tech you add the more frequent failures become and the more frequent and costly servicing becomes (simply more stuff to fail and more stuff to service and more stuff to repair).
You know where this is heading cars that refuse to move unless they get their authorised $2,500 service and that means towing costs on top, owners will be impressed (oh yeah, they are counting on the hugely inflated authorised only service costs, the more automation, the locked in your become).

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1. Re:The More you add the more it fails by sound+vision · 2019-03-20 12:39 · Score: 1
  
  "Silly crap" seems to be working out pretty well for Tesla, and they are really just enabling drunk driving. I can get with Volvo on this one.
2. Re: The More you add the more it fails by Type44Q · 2019-03-20 13:04 · Score: 1
  
  and the worse the reputation of the vehicle
  The Swedes are too smart to have unloaded Volvo any earlier than necessary; rest assured every last bit of value was extracted while the company still had a reputation - their quality deteriorated tremendously when they switched to FWD and they've been going downhill ever since; now the only way they can get any attention is by making ridiculous announcements.
3. Re:The More you add the more it fails by Gravis+Zero · 2019-03-20 13:56 · Score: 1
  
  There a numerous studies on the more tech you add the more frequent failures become and the more frequent and costly servicing becomes (simply more stuff to fail and more stuff to service and more stuff to repair).
  It also depends on the type of technology that is being added. If it has moving parts then it's far more likely to breakdown. This is part of the reason why EVs are cheaper to maintain, it's mostly solid state. This particular sensor could also be a highly reliable part if it's a solid state component, especially MEMS sensors. You never hear people talk about the microphone on their cellphone failing because it's an ultra-reliable MEMS sensor.
  
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4. Re:The More you add the more it fails by DNS-and-BIND · 2019-03-20 14:26 · Score: 1, Troll
  
  Where this is heading is control. Drivers will no longer control their cars. The company (or the government, which is pretty much the same thing under the corporatist tyranny) will control the car. You'll have to satisfy their requirements, whatever they decide they might be, before the car will turn on. Then your destination will have to qualify. Going to the shooting range? Your car will decide if that's suitable for you or not.
  
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5. Re:The More you add the more it fails by Whatsisname · 2019-03-20 15:34 · Score: 1
  
  If you have a "situation" you call a fucking ambulance.
  Otherwise, if you're driving at speeds where a max of 112 is a problem, you're more likely to get yourself, your family member, and worst of all, some other random people killed.
  Don't be a dumbass.
6. Re:The More you add the more it fails by Jane+Q.+Public · 2019-03-20 16:16 · Score: 1
  
  It will be a cold day in Hell before I'll buy a car that tells me what to do.
  
  Ain't gonna happen.
7. Re: The More you add the more it fails by muecksteiner · 2019-03-20 20:21 · Score: 1
  
  FWD, and for that matter, parts from the Ford toolbox, were not the problem. My 2003 S60 D5 has 420k km on the clock, and is showing no signs of deteriorating. That thing is built like a tank, handles like one, and will hopefully last another 200k km. There is also a fairly minimal amount of electronics, by modern standards. If they had stuck to building cars like that, they would still be my top choice, if that S60 ever croaks.
  I recently spent a few months abroad, and the company which sent me there gave me a brand new Toyota with all the bells and whistles. I still have nightmares about that thing: tons of half-assed "assistance" systems which keep bothering you with false alarms, dreadful user interfaces... those months with the Toyota re-inforced my resolve to keep that S60 alive for as long as technically possible.
8. Re:The More you add the more it fails by jawtheshark · 2019-03-20 20:24 · Score: 2
  
  They already do... in a sense. I have a 19 year old car that allows me everything. My wifes car (new from winter 2017), doesn't allow you to do a lot of things. Example: I can start my cars engine whenever I want, in gear (obviously not a good idea), out of gear, etc. My wifes car? Push the button (not a key. *sigh*) and it tells you "Please engage the brake before starting the engine". Why? I'm in neutral/park, there we're standing in our perfectly even garage. Why do I need to do this? Just start the engine as I told you.
  That's modern cars for you.
  Prohibiting you to drive because you are drunk/tired/distressed is just one step further.
  I will drive my old car until it literally starts to fall apart. The advantage of having it driven for 19 years is also that you know it inside out. You immediately know if something is off and needs to be repaired.
  
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9. Re:The More you add the more it fails by dehachel12 · 2019-03-20 21:11 · Score: 1
  
  waited the 30+ minutes for a ambulance
  
  where the H do you live ??? Furthermore, moving a badly injured person can KILL him/her.
10. Re:The More you add the more it fails by Cederic · 2019-03-20 22:10 · Score: 1
  
  Like full time running lights. I asked the salesman, "So if you're in a dark alley in a bad part of town and want to shift yourself OUT discreetly, how can you turn the lights OFF?" Dumbstruck silence and after about half a minute "I guess I never thought about it like that."
  You put the fucking lights on so that you don't contribute to it being a bad part of town by running some poor fucker over because you're too stupid to drive without your lights on.
  What sort of fuckwit drives down alleys with their lights off at night? Stop fucking driving.
11. Re:The More you add the more it fails by hackertourist · 2019-03-20 22:52 · Score: 1
  
  And yet my current car (loaded to the gills with electronics) has a service interval 4 times longer than the first car I owned 20 years ago, and (despite being 11 years old now)it's never had an issue that needed the garage's attention in between regular services.
12. Re:The More you add the more it fails by dcw3 · 2019-03-20 23:43 · Score: 1
  
  I don't like the idea of Volvo doing this any more than you do. But, you've clearly been watching too much TV/movies because your strawman situations are not ever going to happen to 99.99% of the population.
  
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  Just another day in Paradise
13. Re:The More you add the more it fails by dcw3 · 2019-03-20 23:54 · Score: 1
  
  In the US, hospitals will advise against this. I did the same, rushing my wife to the ER (we're about 5 miles/ten minute drive away) with a pulmonary embolism, only to be told that I should have waited for the ambulance. When you take an ambulance, they get wheeled directly into the back door of the ER. When you walk in, you have to deal with the reception folks who are trying to triage everyone in the room. Obviously, if you make enough noise, things can be expedited...got my wife right in. It's really a judgement call...how long before you expect to have one arrive. I'm fortunate here in northern VA...they don't take long at all. Two years ago, I had a nasty fall (nearly ripped the nose off of my face hitting the rough edge of a flagstone step...bad enough that two trauma room nurses turned away when they saw it), and was actually on the operating table in under an hour.
  
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14. Re:The More you add the more it fails by AmiMoJo · 2019-03-21 02:00 · Score: 1
  
  Cars today are far more reliable than cars from 50 years ago, but are also vastly more complex. Modern cars have many, many more features than older ones and thus many more things to go wrong, yet are still more reliable.
  At least that's how it is in Europe, where laws mean that if a manufacturer makes an unreliable car it's going to cost them. Even out of the warranty period they usually end up paying most of the cost of expensive repairs due to quality issues or design flaws. Volvo are operating in that environment.
  
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15. Re:The More you add the more it fails by Ol+Olsoc · 2019-03-21 02:13 · Score: 1
  
  And yet my current car (loaded to the gills with electronics) has a service interval 4 times longer than the first car I owned 20 years ago, and (despite being 11 years old now)it's never had an issue that needed the garage's attention in between regular services.
  It's called Slashdot reactionary syndrome. Someone bragging about how awesome his 1970's Toyota Corrolla is -so much better than this new junk, amirite?
  I've always wondered how much trolling that might be. My very first car was a '65 Buick Skylark. I had a celebration when it hit 100K miles. It was about finished. Over time the engines were improved to the point where they are now effectively blueprinted. I love to compare my new Jeep 4 cylinder to my old Voyager. I also expect to get 300K miles on my vehicles now, not toss 'em after 80-90K
  Modern cars are simply much much better.
  I'll make one complaint though. The "entertainment" electronics is a distraction. Some of the radios are great if you like distracted driving just to use the damn things. I can operate a standard pushbutton radio simply using peripheral vision.
  
  --
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16. Re:The More you add the more it fails by cellocgw · 2019-03-21 04:38 · Score: 1
  
  Yep - another case study from the metro Boston area (was written up in great detail by the husband of the woman who died). The woman lived a few blocks from a hospital. She knew she had serious asthma sensitivity. One night she felt an attack coming on, and knew enough that she needed to be treated in the E.D. . However, she figured she'd just walk over. Ended up with the attack coming on faster than anticipated, and due to poor/obsolete signs on the hospital, collapsed outside a locked door.
  Many factors contributed to her death, but certainly in an urban area, calling for an ambulance will bypass all the factors that took place before she died.
  
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17. Re:The More you add the more it fails by Wulf2k · 2019-03-21 05:12 · Score: 1
  
  So can not moving them.
18. Re:The More you add the more it fails by Wulf2k · 2019-03-21 05:16 · Score: 1
  
  Ok, what if I just want to move the vehicle a few feet without blinding everybody in front of it at night?
  I can't, so I should just stop caring?
19. Re:The More you add the more it fails by Wulf2k · 2019-03-21 05:18 · Score: 1
  
  What if you've previously had a stroke, are mentally and physically capable of driving, but it detects your slurred speech, droopy lip, and non-standard movements as inebriation?
20. Re:The More you add the more it fails by dcw3 · 2019-03-21 05:29 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think you're disagreeing with me here. Those are things Volvo would be responsible for addressing, and would likely be required to. Your scenarios are much more likely than the ACs.
  
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21. Re: The More you add the more it fails by Miamicanes · 2019-03-21 07:13 · Score: 1
  
  > and the &%$^ Volvo can't outrun a Yugo.
  I think a morbidly obese woman in a motorized wheelchair scooter could have outrun a Yugo.
22. Re:The More you add the more it fails by squiggleslash · 2019-03-21 08:13 · Score: 1
  
  Have you tried locking the doors?
  Also have you tried watching fewer Charles Bronson movies? They weren't exactly accurate depictions of 1970s New York City, let alone modern day America you know.
  
  --
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23. Re:The More you add the more it fails by jawtheshark · 2019-03-22 04:33 · Score: 1
  
  Idiot... You can start a car when it's in gear, it just isn't a good idea and it will fail. The point is there is nothing stopping you from doing exactly that.
  
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  Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
24. Re:The More you add the more it fails by JesseMcDonald · 2019-03-22 04:54 · Score: 1
  
  Apparently you've never been to an organized astronomy event. "No white lights" is basic etiquette, to preserve everyone's night vision. You'll be asked to ensure that your headlights, back-up lights, and interior dome lights are all disabled before parking anywhere near the observing field. If you need to leave during the event the standard procedure is to have someone walk ahead of the vehicle with a red flashlight to guide you outside the area safely before you re-enable your vehicle's lights.
  
  --
  "The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat
Re:Keen on high speeds? by Anonymous Coward · 2019-03-20 12:39 · Score: 3, Funny

Traffic laws are not crimes
I don't need a drivers license.
I'm not driving I'm traveling.
I'm an Article 4 free inhabitant.
Where is the Corpus Delecti?
Misread the title by DontBeAMoran · 2019-03-20 12:46 · Score: 1

"Volvo to adds in-car censors to prevent drunk swearing"

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Seems a no win here. by speedlaw · 2019-03-20 12:47 · Score: 4, Interesting

If you don't drink you won't want to pay for a needless in car breathalyzer....why would you ? If you do drink the last thing you want is your car to decide you have had 'too much', whatever that is. Can't see who, if anyone, is the audience here. While I loathe the right wing description of "virtue signaling" is that where Volvo is going ? Back when there were two swedish car companies, they used to say "one for the right lane (volvo) and one for the left lane (saab). Looks like the right lane is now a maiden aunt who reads Streetsblog and is writing letters against legal cannabis and about speeders on her block to the local legislators....
1. Re:Seems a no win here. by ljw1004 · 2019-03-20 14:06 · Score: 2
  
  Can't see who, if anyone, is the audience here.
  I see clearly who the audience is...
  1. Add "big-brother" safety enforcements like 112mph speed caps and distracted-driver preventions
  2. Observe fewer car accidents that involve Volvo vehicles. Achieve their 2020 goal of "no deaths in a new volvo"
  3. Potential customers observe the safety statistics. They observe no deaths in a Volvo. For them, it becomes a no-brainer to buy a Volvo. PROFIT.
  I agree that by no means everyone will view "zero deaths" as a positive selling point. For a lot of people they'll ignore this feature. But I'm sure there will be a sizeable potential audience for whom it's a major selling point. Imagine you have kids, and you're having a conversation with your spouse about which new car to buy, and your spouse says "let's get a volvo because no one dies in a volvo" and you have to answer "well I'd rather get a car that looks better even though people do die in it". It'll be hard to get your way. Like a lot of people I was persuaded to get rid of my motorcycle when my kids were born, for similar reasons.
2. Re:Seems a no win here. by thegarbz · 2019-03-20 23:54 · Score: 1
  
  I agree that by no means everyone will view "zero deaths" as a positive selling point.
  I don't. Personally I think we don't give out enough Darwin awards as it is. Airbags are crap. I think we need giant stakes in the steering column which will stab people in the heart when the computer detects stupidity.
  Car accident? Stake!
  Cut someone off? Stake!
  Speeding? Stake!
  Driving too slow? Stake!
  Run a red light? Stake!
  Try to merge onto a highway at 50km/h? Stake!
  Honk at me because I dared to give way to a predestrian who had a green light and you're just an impatient shit like the guy behind me yesterday? Stake's them in the balls first so they feel pain, then Stake!
  Drivers with Belgian license plates? Well for efficiency reasons we can just Stake them now since they aren't long for this world.
  We'd solve so many problems. No idiots on the road. People would preference public transport. Over population would be resolved. Less traffic. Reduced CO2 emissions.
  I can't see anything other than wins here.
3. Re:Seems a no win here. by Attila+Dimedici · 2019-03-21 05:01 · Score: 1
  
  That was my thought as well: Who is the customer for this?
  
  The answer appears to be government bureaucrats. Of course, as the auto manufacturers in the U.S. discovered, government bureaucrats don't buy enough cars to build your business around them.
  
  --
  The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
Re:Keen on high speeds? by Highdude702 · 2019-03-20 12:49 · Score: 1

GLHF Hope you know your laws better than that hispanic broad from cali that made youtube...
Stupid by SirAstral · 2019-03-20 12:49 · Score: 1

This is stupid... I wonder if the car will let you drive home if a passenger is drunk? No more designated driver for you!
But hey, look on the bright side, at least Volvo will have random pictures of you and your family in the car. I love these new "safety" spying features!
1. Re:Stupid by CrimsonAvenger · 2019-03-20 14:38 · Score: 1
  
  This is stupid... I wonder if the car will let you drive home if a passenger is drunk?
  Was wondering something similar - will it protect you from the open bottle of beer in the back seat on a hot day? Yeah, I know - "hot day" and "Sweden" don't really go together...
  Or does it focus exclusively on the driver. And if the latter, how?
  
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2. Re:Stupid by lordlod · 2019-03-21 00:36 · Score: 1
  
  I wonder if the car will let you drive home if a passenger is drunk?
  Really?
  You think that a camera system that can determine your level of intoxication won't be able to differentiate between a driver and a passenger?
  As far as grumbly whinges go, this one is really weak.
3. Re:Stupid by mark-t · 2019-03-21 00:59 · Score: 1
  
  It's against the law to have an open bottle of bear in the back seat too, regardless of whether the driver has consumed any alcohol. The only time passengers are allowed to consume alcohol in a vehicle is if they are isolated from the driver so that they are effectively in an isolated part of the cabin from where the driver sits, such as what you may find at the back of a limo, etc.
  
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Re:Keen on high speeds? by speedlaw · 2019-03-20 12:55 · Score: 3, Insightful

The reason German cars are German Cars is due to the Autobahn. If a car is tight at 180 kph, it will be very good at 90 kph.
Re:Keen on high speeds? by Anonymous Coward · 2019-03-20 13:00 · Score: 1

I know my rights
People vs. Battle
Terry vs Ohio
Black's law dictionary defines Driver as "One employed in conducting a coach, carriage, wagon, or other vehicle, with horses, mules, or other animals, or a bicycle, tricycle, or motor car, though not a street railroad car. See Davis v. Petrinovich, 112 Ala. 654, 21 South. 344, 36 L. R. A.615; Gen. St. Conn. 1902". When i'm traveling I'm not in a commercial capacity, it's a private capacity and therefore I don't need a drivers license.
Volvo: A Car for People Scared of Their Own Shadow by TigerPlish · 2019-03-20 13:10 · Score: 1

First they announce they want to nanny the car to 112 MPH.
Now they announce a nanny to prevent distracted or impaired driver.
I foresee a demise for this company within 10 years.
I forgot where I read it decades ago, it might've been Csaba Cede in Car and Driver in the 80's... that "Volvo is the car for people scared of their own shadows." Maybe it's also the car for facists who wish to impose their will on the People, to hell with what the People want.
This smacks of authoritarianism. I don't think it'll do well here in the States, and ditto for their move to govern the car to no more than 112.

--
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Government's wet dream by ugen · 2019-03-20 13:13 · Score: 1

And of course, once technology is available, your friendly local government will make it mandatory for all vehicles. There is no escape.
Re:Volvo: A Car for People Scared of Their Own Sha by tquasar · 2019-03-20 13:30 · Score: 1

Bonus points for the Csaba Cede reference.
As a parent by FeelGood314 · 2019-03-20 13:37 · Score: 1

I like to think my boys are pretty responsible but there is no way I would give them a car that could do 180km/h. I remember the stupid stuff I did as a teenager. I'm always amazed that so many boys actually make it to 20. So here is a better way to think of this, if Volvo proves this works, what percentage reduction of traffic fatalities and injuries would justify making it mandatory in your country? Sweden at 4.7 deaths per 100,000 people per year seems god awful if you think about living to 100 but then the USA is 12.9 deaths per year. So vehicle deaths are a huge problem. If something added $30 to the yearly cost of owning a car and reduced the death rate by %10 that would be $6.4 Million per life in Sweden. Might not be worth it. In the USA though it would be $2.3 Million per life saved. It might be worth it there.
1. Re:As a parent by SlaveToTheGrind · 2019-03-20 13:59 · Score: 1
  
  $6.4 Million per life in Sweden. Might not be worth it. In the USA though it would be $2.3 Million per life saved. It might be worth it there.
  What sort of stone-cold calculus does it take to reach the conclusion that saving the life of an arbitrary human might be worth $2.3 million but not $6.4?
2. Re:As a parent by WolfgangVL · 2019-03-20 14:17 · Score: 1
  
  Stone cold capitalism. We're talking about the USA.
  
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3. Re:As a parent by SlaveToTheGrind · 2019-03-20 15:23 · Score: 1
  
  We're talking about the USA.
  Actually, OP was talking about Sweden.
Crash not accident by Whatsisname · 2019-03-20 13:45 · Score: 4, Interesting

Volvo's technology is designed to reduce crashes. Not accidents.
An accident is "an event that happens by chance or that is without apparent or deliberate cause."
If someone is driving drunk, or driving distracted, and they crash, it's no accident. By defaulting to the term "accident", we are implicitly absolving drivers of heavy machines of their responsibility to operate them safely and competently.
https://www.crashnotaccident.c...
1. Re:Crash not accident by mark-t · 2019-03-21 01:09 · Score: 1
  
  A drunk driver killing someone is still an accident unless he was intentionally trying to murder said person.
  Not exactly.... more like the death of the person is more of an unintended consequence of something that they *did* deliberately choose to do, which was to get drunk enough that they couldn't safely control the vehicle.
  But how can one justly say that something that they never directly intended to happen, but which was both made more likely to happen and even predictable to happen, is only an "accident" when in fact it only arose out of a direct consequence of something that they *did* deliberately choose to do, which was to try and drive after they had been drinking too much alcohol?
  It's like saying that if I deliberately drop a raw egg onto the floor, the mess that it makes is an "accident".
  
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2. Re:Crash not accident by subk · 2019-03-21 06:30 · Score: 1
  
  That's why lawyers say "there are no accidents, only incidents".
  
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This could go wrong in many ways by The+Grim+Reefer · 2019-03-20 13:47 · Score: 2

So what happens if the owner is injured and has no other way to get medical treatment other than to drive to a medical facility? If the car recognizes that the driver is not paying attention due to being in excruciating pain and pulls over and won't move, that's not good. Or if the driver is transporting an injured family member? I'm sure checking on the family member while driving could be seen as distracted too. There are so many ways this could go wrong.
Re:Volvo: A Car for People Scared of Their Own Sha by drinkypoo · 2019-03-20 13:54 · Score: 1

This smacks of authoritarianism. I don't think it'll do well here in the States, and ditto for their move to govern the car to no more than 112.
Geely^WVolvo drivers don't want to go that fast anyway, I don't think any of the people in the market for one of those cars will ever notice the limiter. Hell, I had a 115 MPH limiter on my 240SX and it was not a significant issue in normal life, even though that was a sports car. It was gear-limited to about 124 anyway.
These drivers don't want to drive drunk, either, so as long as the car doesn't have to phone home it's not likely to reduce sales at all.
The goal in the USA is zero highway fatalities so this is just a preview of the kind of hardware that will eventually be mandatory in all new vehicles... worldwide, really.

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Parents by rsilvergun · 2019-03-20 13:59 · Score: 2

worried about their partying kids. And yeah, a lot of parents could give a crap if their 17 your old kid gets plastered because hey, they did to when they were that age, as long as they don't get an underage DUI.

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1. Re:Parents by dcw3 · 2019-03-21 00:02 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, I did it when I was their age, and realized just a few years later how dumb it was. When my kid got to that age, ~16-17, we talked more than once about responsible drinking. You're not going to stop them, but you can influence them to do so safely.
  
  --
  Just another day in Paradise
"if we save some lives then it's worth it" by SlaveToTheGrind · 2019-03-20 14:06 · Score: 1
Just imagine the possibilities:
- Limiting all cars to 20MPH is worth it.
- Filling in all swimming pools with concrete is worth it.
- Confiscating anything sharper than a butterknife is worth it.
- Confiscating all guns... oh, right.
Re:Volvo: A Car for People Scared of Their Own Sha by TigerPlish · 2019-03-20 14:27 · Score: 1

Hell, I had a 115 MPH limiter on my 240SX and it was not a significant issue in normal life, even though that was a sports car. It was gear-limited to about 124 anyway.
Most of my cars have been utterly incapable to hit 140. my Rx-7 tapped out at about 130, top gear at redline ('84 GSL-SE). My miata barely kissed 125, that was drag-limited. My Rx-8 is the only missle I had, it felt nailed down at nearly 130 when I let up on the gas when I came to my senses. Some guy in Germany posted a pic in winter in the autobahn, 152 at near-redline in top gear.
How to put this.. I'm not interested in top speed, I"m interested in "does this car make me giggle like a madman when I fling it around a corner or take off from a light". What I abhor is either the guvmint or the carmaker deciding, for me, to limit it. I don't care if I'm drag-limited. That's not the government or the maker saying "this fast, and no faster." I kinda let the Krauts slide with their 155mph, because honestly by 130 things get weird. I will admit that I've not driven a proper fast car like a Bugatti. I bet that feels calm and collected at 200.
It's the principle of the thing for me. Like most Canon cameras being almost as capable as its brothers, but artificially prevented by software.
Many here are saying this is the way of the future, that all cars will be like this. Good thing by then I"ll be pushing up the daisies. (then again, with my luck, I'll live to 105 and have to suffer through this.. bullshit.. of protecting people from themselves)
Instead of airbags, we shoulda had put a 6" steel spike on the steering hub. "You wanna drive without a seatbelt? ORLY?!" And let natural selection do its thing.

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The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
Nanny car now is deciding when I am good to drive by guacamole · 2019-03-20 14:48 · Score: 1

Why stop only at refusing to drive when I look tired or distracted late night or early in the morning? We need cars to make other safety related decisions. For example, refuse to change lanes if the driver did not use turn signal, brake and stop the car when driver tries to cross intersection on yellow light, refuse to accellerate beyond speed limit, don't brake if the driver did not check rear view mirror, brake on every stoo sign, etc.
Re:Volvo by Anonymous Coward · 2019-03-20 14:51 · Score: 1

Yeah fuck that noise. If you can't drive over 112MPH while drunk and tweeting, then you might as well not drive at all! Fuck other people. Who cares if you endanger them with your irresponsibility and entitlement so long as you had fun? YOLO man. YOLO.
Value by markdavis · 2019-03-20 14:58 · Score: 1

>"CEO Hakan Samuelsson said that while the strategies meant Volvo might lose some customers keen on high speeds,"
And lose customers who value freedom, value privacy, value control, value repairability, value not being harassed or labeled, value glitches not causing new safety and convenience issues, and value their wallets.
Product/service to disable it all.. by Rick+Schumann · 2019-03-20 17:40 · Score: 1

..will be available from 3rd party companies almost immediately.
1. Re:Product/service to disable it all.. by Rick+Schumann · 2019-03-21 03:32 · Score: 1
  
  They're not 'buying one of these' as if it's an accessory you pay extra for, Volvo is baking this right into the vehicle. So you're saying "don't buy a Volvo at all"? Gee whiz that makes all sorts of sense, AC (not). Do you ACs even think before you comment or is it all just knee-jerk? Here, let me spoon-feed you, dumb babby: Want a Volvo, buy a Volvo, oh noes, silly speed governor and silly 'distracted driving detector, what do? Oh I know, buy this gadget/service that disables all that silly crap! WIN! There was that so difficult to understand?
Re:Volvo: A Car for People Scared of Their Own Sha by Cederic · 2019-03-20 22:13 · Score: 1

by 130 things get weird
Nah. Your brain also very rapidly adjusts and treats it as normal.
Just start reacting to things happening half a mile ahead instead of waiting until you reach them.
There's an app for that...or there will be by hyades1 · 2019-03-20 22:28 · Score: 1

My buddy has a device that plugs into the OBD II port. It comes an app that allows him to make a huge number of performance adjustments to his car.
How long will it take before somebody offers a specific app to disable all Volvo's Big Brotherish performance tweaks for as long as the device is plugged in, then reset everything to the way it was as part of the removal process? I'm betting it will be available about a week after the first "Neutered Volvo" sale for about a hundred Euros.
If I were writing it, I'd call it something like "Volvo's Not the Boss of Me", then sit back to watch the currency roll in.

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I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
1. Re:There's an app for that...or there will be by hyades1 · 2019-03-21 15:25 · Score: 1
  
  Where's SAAB when you need it!
  
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  I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
Re:Keen on high speeds? by dcw3 · 2019-03-20 23:35 · Score: 1

Pretty much this. I spent six years driving the autobahns, and even the cheap econobox cars handled well and stress free at 160 kph+ That's just under 100 mph for us 'Mericans.

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Just another day in Paradise
Re:Volvo: A Car for People Scared of Their Own Sha by dcw3 · 2019-03-21 00:11 · Score: 1

Double bonus if either of you could spell Csaba Csere
https://www.caranddriver.com/f...

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Just another day in Paradise
Re: Volvo by rally2xs · 2019-03-21 00:21 · Score: 1

That's Subaru...
Re:Keen on high speeds? by s122604 · 2019-03-21 00:54 · Score: 1

Traffic laws are not crimes I don't need a drivers license. I'm not driving I'm traveling. I'm an Article 4 free inhabitant. Where is the Corpus Delecti?
Hey, why are you breaking my window
Ow, that taser really hurts
Re:Keen on high speeds? by mjwx · 2019-03-21 02:57 · Score: 1

The reason German cars are German Cars is due to the Autobahn. If a car is tight at 180 kph, it will be very good at 90 kph.
Not necessarily, cars designed exclusively for high speed runs like rocket cars and dragsters tend to have very bad low speed handling.

Not all German cars are good either, they produce a lot of mass market crap that Americans never see... However the one's you're thinking of, they're good cars because they've been designed to be good at low and high speeds. 180 KPH (111 MPH) isn't that fast for a modern sporty-ish car. My BMW M240i will go up to about 170 MPH (~280 KPH) if you took the 155 MPH limiter off, however like most road legal cars, the steering starts to get light as you go faster and lose downforce... Where this point is depends on the car, I've had older cars that would start to get light at 90 KPH (Nissan Silvia S15 to be exact).

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Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Re:Keen on high speeds? by eaglesrule · 2019-03-21 06:59 · Score: 2

Bingo! I have a sovereign citizen bingo!