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However, the new system as it's currently envisaged will not force drivers to slow down. It is there to encourage them to do so, and to make them aware of what the limit is, but it can be overridden. Much like the cruise control in many current cars will hold a particular speed, or prevent you exceeding it, until you stamp on the accelerator.
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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.
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the AA said "a little speed" helped with overtaking or joining motorways.
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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
