Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA)
 

So here it is after a long wait. "Black box" style recording and the car restricting the speed you drive at. Maybe not much of a problem usually as there's so much traffic anyway!

It still won't stop people driving too fast for the conditions which is surely where the actual problems are (too fast for junctions, not looking at the road ahead), so people will still try to do 70+ on a foggy or wet motorway!

Will these also be able to be 'mapped' out anyway and will people then just drive around with their foot to the floor knowing it'll stop them speeding?!

Plus, will this increase the price of older second hand cars that don't have these systems?

Thoughts?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47715415

So it's not an enforced speed limiter and can easily be overridden. Probably not such a bad thing in that case if it prevents accidental speeding, enabling the driver to focus on the road instead of the speedometer.


This is the most dangerous thing about enforced speed limiting devices, IMO. Sometimes it's necessary to ignore speed limits for a few seconds to get out of trouble. Without any means to override a limiter in an emergency (eg misjudged overtaking manoeuvre), there'd be a rise in head-on collisions, which are probably the worst type of collision with the greatest likelihood of fatalities.

Regardless, I can't see mandatory enforced speed limiters appearing any time soon; there's just too much scamera revenue at stake. Just like other life-threatening things such as cigarettes, the governments rely heavily on the revenue generated. A government's first priority is always to make money, while pretending to care about people's lives. Speed limiters might save some lives, but they don't generate revenue.

And what is 'speeding' anyway? Speed limits are often arbitrarily imposed figures, with no real scientific basis, that do not take into account the widely varying capabilities of different vehicles. And quite often new, lower speed restrictions are imposed on roads that have no history of speed related accidents. I know of quite a few major roads and dual carriageways that have had their speed limit reduced to 40mph, or even 30, for no good reason, only to see the introduction of a speed camera just a few weeks/days later.

Also, there's been a lot of investment in 'Smart Motorways' and average speed cameras lately -- I suspect the government will want to see a good return on that investment before doing anything that might jeopardise it.

It's always about the money and speed restriction devices don't make money. If safety was important we wouldn't still have hundreds of miles of unlit motorways. Funny how there's seemingly plenty of money available to convert motorways into 'Smart Motorways' though :rolleyes:

I believe that we will end up with convoys of cars doing what trucks do already.
A slight discrepancy in the speed set as maximum will have vehicles taking ten miles or so to overtake because as Mark said they will all be driving at full right boot and the one being overtaken will not be willing to slacken off for a minute to let the overtaker finish his manoeuvre quickly.
I come across this all the time with HGVs. The overtaker sitting in lane 2 for miles and me in a coach that is allowed to drive some 6 MPH faster stuck behind and I am not allowed to use lane 3.
I normally drive on cruise control at about 58MPH then open up to my allowed max of 62 when I pull out to overtake a truck. Back to cruse after the overtake is completed.

That's almost exactly how the Tesla system works at the moment - I don't see why this is an issue myself, as long as the design of this is sensible.

Hasn't anyone else on here noticed that there's now far less "bunching" and sharp braking required on busy "smart" motorways (not roadwork sections) where average speed limits in force. For me, that's a great example of technology applied sensibly for the benefit of all - and I'm sure the accident stats have improved.

We share the road with others, so we should share it responsibly - it doesn't mean we can't have just as much fun when the conditions allow +++

There does seem to be a lot of 'apparently...', 'basically...', and 'I heard that...' on this subject.

Has anybody seen or heard official statements or guidelines of the planned introduction of this and something more than a click bait headline? It could well be that it is a requirement for all new vehicles to have a speed limiting function rather than the car being physically restricted by some location-based tech to 30mph on a road and 70mph on a motorway etc. In which case, most new cars with a cruise control function already have that anyway so it's a bit of a non-story and, if anything, a good thing overall. :Confused:

All this makes no sense to me! Whilst I'm all in favour of ways to improve car safety, I don't see how this will work.

The report states that it won't restrict your speed, but just 'warn' you. People who have a driving licence know the speed limit; generally speaking 70mph on motorways and dual carriageways, 60mph on single carriageways ('A' roads) and 'B' roads, and 30mph in built up areas.

They will see the speed limit signs in various places as they drive, and will have it displayed on the speedometer in the car (some might even have a heads-up display). As well as having some common sense and 'driving to the conditions', just how exactly are these warnings going to be anymore able to make you slow down? Perhaps a ship's fog horn inside the car when you go over the limit!

When you consider the make up of roads in Great Britain (Northern Ireland doesn't get included in the stats), motorways, dual carriageways and single carriageways only account for 12.7% (31,400 miles) of the total, and 'B','C' and 'U' roads account for 87.3% (215,300 miles) of the total, yet these latter ones have a speed limit of 60mph.

To be honest, I just see this as an excuse to have 'black boxes' fitted to cars, which will initially be used only in the event of an accident (fair enough), but the police will then be given the authority at a later date to allow them to inspect this data at any time, and will use this to retroactively fine people for speeding, giving the government another revenue generating stream.

That does seem like a much more likely motive. I hadn't thought of that.

On my coach I have 3 speed limiting devices that I can set as I need them:-

1. Cruise control
2. Max speed control. I set this to the current speed limit it then stops me from speeding.
3. Downhill limiter. I set this at the max for travellingg down long hills and it operates the retarder to control my speed.

Then of course there is the overall limiter set by the Tachograph station that limits my top speed to 62MPH.

My speed limiter is often perched on the passenger seat, if "it" is holding on to anything very tightly and sucking air in through clenched teeth then I am aware that my speed may be approaching inappropriate:ROFL:

I believe David and Jim have a similar speed limiting device fitted+++