Cars In Europe May Be Speed Limited in the Future

Edmunds.com

Cars In Europe May Be Speed Limited in the Future

Drivers in Europe could be forced to fit speed limiters in their cars, as the European Union looks to new ways to cut highway casualty rates.

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clachnit

The EU denies any such recommendation. But it's fun to talk about anyway: http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/ECintheUK/reports-of-brussels-big-brother-bid-to-impose-speed-controls-are-inaccurate-beyond-the-limit-2/

miscpippa

It's important that speed limit signs actually mean what they say. People tend to interpret them as ballpark figures.

zimtheinvader

can they also be programmed to speed the cars up if they aren't doing the limit? I find often people are so out of touch with what their car is doing they don't realize they are doing 35 in a 50 zone on a clear day.

greenpony

The Bad: forcing people to retrofit their current vehicles out of their own pocket on their own time; arbitrarily setting limits not considering vehicle or driver capability; potential for tracking driver behaviour (invasion of privacy) and using it to issue fines; adding time to journeys where the speed limit is routinely exceeded; potential for abuse as ECU's are (illegally) reprogrammed to exceed speed limits; near-impossible uniform enforcement; automatic braking could cause more collisions than it prevents. . . . . . The Good: slower speeds allow more reaction time (safety); slower speeds allow better fuel economy (efficiency); highway speed limits (US Interstates, for example) are really not that low, so only the most lead-footed drivers are effected; prevents breaking the law and eliminates the possibility of ever getting a speeding ticket.