View Full Version : Making it physically harder to speed (in Canada)
trazadone
12-04-2005, 08:31 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/12/01/canada_gps_speed/index.html
Device stops speeders from inside car
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Canadian auto regulators are testing a system that would enforce speed limits by making it harder to push down the car's gas pedal once the speed limit is passed, according to a newspaper report.
The system being tested by Transport Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. Department of Transportation, uses a global positioning satellite device installed in the car to monitor the car's speed and position. If the car begins to significantly exceed the speed limit for the road on which it's travelling the system responds by making it harder to depress the gas pedal, according to a story posted on the Toronto Globe and Mail's Website.
The pilot test, using 10 cars driven by volunteers, is believed to be the first in North America, although similar systems have been tested in several European countries, according to the newspaper.
The agency is also testing another system that warns drivers with a voice alarm and a light whenever they start to speed, the newspaper said. Those systems are already on sale, according to the report. The company that makes the alarm device, the Otto Driving Companion, has already sold 400 of the units in Winnipeg alone, the newspaper said.
They should invest in more active security like radar avoidance system that displays obstacle in adverse weather . Because the assumption that speed kills is just a gammic .Inattention , sleepiness , careless driving kill more people but who cares , it is difficult to enforce compare to speed.
mauiman84
12-04-2005, 08:43 PM
You would think it would be more cost effective for the LEO's to use more radar/laser guns to help generate revenue instead of their possible idea.
SmaartAasSaabr
12-05-2005, 11:17 AM
They should invest in more active security like radar avoidance system that displays obstacle in adverse weather . Because the assumption that speed kills is just a gammic .Inattention , sleepiness , careless driving kill more people but who cares , it is difficult to enforce compare to speed.
Did you hear about the German test with Mercedes-Benz S-class in the new Mercedes-Benz "Safety Center"?
The steel walls and reinforcements of the safety center interferred with the S-class' radar-guiding system, which slams on the brakes if you get too close, and it didn't work. So they got a journalist to stand on the brake when he got close. But, the car still rear-ended the parked car ahead, and this was on TV in Germany...
Zaltekk
12-07-2005, 08:56 PM
I find it obligatory to point out that every single automobile must be specially outfitted in order for this to work. When will a government spend this much money to restrict speeds? By the way...what is the point in making the pedal hard to push? It wouldn't stop me from speeding...
Road Warrior
12-07-2005, 09:23 PM
I find it obligatory to point out that every single automobile must be specially outfitted in order for this to work. When will a government spend this much money to restrict speeds? By the way...what is the point in making the pedal hard to push? It wouldn't stop me from speeding...
When I was still living in a communist dictatorship I was lucky to get my hands on a video tape with one-of-a-kind movie based on a great book: 1984!!!
How in the world anybody in a free country (Canada, yes) can force me to install this ****ing device in my current vehicle or force me to buy a new car with such device in it :roll: Of course they will be able to sell cars with such devices installed in them... to the RETIRED people!!!
spankyaf
12-08-2005, 08:05 AM
Yup they'll offer discounts on car insurance for those who have it installed.
If you're a white knuckle driver who stays below the limit just to make sure you're not speeding then why not.
mauiman84
12-08-2005, 08:09 AM
or install it and wait for someone to develop something to bypass the system.
SmaartAasSaabr
12-08-2005, 08:40 AM
Install and unplug
EaterofWorlds
12-09-2005, 03:53 AM
This idea would completely KILL the drag racing industry.
I, like many other car enthusiasts, frequent the drag strip. How in the world is one supposed to participate in a drag strip competition where thousandths of a second count if every time one pushes the gas pedal down more than halfway one has to fight to keep it down?? Am I going to have to go to the DMV EVERY TIME I want to take my car to the strip to fill out some sort of Temporary Exception Form!?
In fact, this idea could be downright dangerous! Imagine hurtling down a drag strip and when you hit a certain speed (say 80 MPH), your pedal starts to fight you. Now you're not concentrating on driving but fighting your pedal. You smack the center retaining wall, induce a spin, and flip. Way to save lives, you morons!!
Heavily enforce careless driving and tailgating like they do on the AUTOBAHN, the safest roadway in the world, not speeding. I'd rather drive down a highway at 110 MPH a safe distance from the car in front/behind me than travel at 65 MPH three feet from the car in front/behind me!! It's all about MONEY, not safety.
SmaartAasSaabr
12-09-2005, 10:16 AM
Well I think it is GPS enabled to the maximum speed of the road you're on. A dragstrip has no max speed so the unit shouldn't go nuts.
But it might be just set to default at 100km/h (generic Canadian maximum speed) or 110km/h (the highest permitted speed on a Canadian road...).