EU Set To Mandate Speed Limiters In All New Cars (bbc.co.uk)

AmiMoJo shares a report from the BBC: Speed limiting technology looks set to become mandatory for all vehicles sold in Europe from 2022, after new rules were provisionally agreed by the EU. Road safety charity Brake called it a "landmark day," but the AA said "a little speed" helped with overtaking or joining motorways. Safety measures approved by the European Commission included intelligent speed assistance (ISA), advanced emergency braking and lane-keeping technology. The EU says the plan could help avoid 140,000 serious injuries by 2038 and aims ultimately to cut road deaths to zero by 2050. Under the ISA system, cars receive information via GPS and a digital map, telling the vehicle what the speed limit is. This can be combined with a video camera capable of recognizing road signs. The system can be overridden temporarily. If a car is overtaking a lorry on a motorway and enters a lower speed-limit area, the driver can push down hard on the accelerator to complete the maneuver. According to the report, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot-Citroen, Renault and Volvo already have models available with some of the ISA technology fitted.

Comments

Includes manual override and black box

[hankwang]

Two important bits in TFA are not mentioned in the summary:

1. there will be a switch to disable the speed limiter until the engine is powered off.

2. The car gets a black box that can be accessed after an accident.

Re:More EU rules to control transport

[Joce640k]

Germany has been considering new speed limits since at least the 1970s but nothing ever happens.

If you've ever driven in Germany you'd know how the system works. The autobahans are full of police cars. You can overtake them at any speed, no problem, but try tailgating, using your phone, changing lanes without indicating ... acting like an asshole/idiot in any way at all and they'll be down on you like a ton of bricks.

It's not the speed that kills you when you're on a nice straight road, it's the distracted soccer moms and self-centered idiots.

Re:It's a step in the right direction.

[Malc]

Speed is always a factor. Remember that kinetic energy is related to the square of velocity: KE = 0.5 * m * v^2.

That energy has to be disipated in an emergency, either through tyres and brakes (and to a degree, the engine) or through friction/impact.

Remember also the rate of energy disipation is normally linear. There's a point where the tyres lose traction and cause the wheels to lock up and the vehicle to skid, which is the limit to how many watts can be disipated. Because energy disipation is linear but KE is the square of the velocity, stopping is faster at lower speeds.

Re:This is going to be GRRRR-GREAT!

[Rei]

Being able to accelerate quickly and well beyond the speed limit has saved my life

And you can, under the EU proposal. How long does it take you to floor a pedal?

The effect of flooring the pedal doesn't change. What changes is that there's a "zero action" point in the pedal's range around the speed limit, where the car only gives enough force to maintain speed. Push at all past that, and you're back to accelerating.

As a separate issue, under what I'd like to see, you'd be limited to going more than 30mph / 50kph over the speed limit without activating an emergency mode. But that shouldn't pose a hindrance to you in your "pre-planned accident" scenario either.