Canada.com reports that Transport Canada has concluded a pilot study of a GPS-based speed governing system that may intervene to cut throttle inputs in speeding cars based on their location. T-Can researcher Paul Boase breaks it down: "The technology has the ability of just saying, OK the posted speed limit is 50, so we'll let you go 55, that's it". Though the vehicle could be fitted to any new vehicle, Boase suggests its primary application should be for repetitive speeders who need a little "help" maintaining a safe cruising speed. So… what about those rare moments when breaking the law is actually the safer thing to do? What if an emergency vehicle comes up behind you? What if you need to speed to duck out of the way of someone who has crossed over the median? What if you're driving a woman in labor to the hospital? A manual override makes the device useless, but no override makes its dangerous. Nevertheless, the idea grabbed the attention of the Alberta's transportation ministry, which is highly interested in the research.
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Typical assinine idea that would appeal to beaurecrats and intelligentsia. It will probably be piloted in Alberta unless BC beats them to the punch.
where there is a will, there is a way….to cut the correct wire, take out the right fuse, or even just disconnect your speed-o.
from the factory my truck is limited to 126mph; in the fuse box under the dash you pull out the purple wire with the white stripe and no more speed limiter and the speed-o still works fine. plus i can just plug it back in if i ever wanted a speed limiter again.
Not until your car is real time talking to the government, you have to swipe your Driver’s License to start the car, and probably blow into a breathalyzer
“The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition is so powerful a principle, that it alone, and without any assistance, not only capable of carrying on the society to wealth and prosperity, but of surmounting a hundred impertinent obstructions with which the folly of human laws too often incumbers its operations”
–Adam Smith
in “Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”
Ahhh, the hometown makes into into TTAC! Sadly it’s the usual paid-off-local-bottom-feeders making the news. We actually have some open spaces here that can be safely driven at elevated speeds, but I could see this device being installed in the majority of vehicles here, as long as they stay in the right hand lane. Now that would be a useful device; one that keeps those driving the speed limit in the correct lane. Hello Transport Canada………….hello……..hello………hello……..oh well.
Ah, the “what if’s”…
I can sort of understand Alberta using such a system – it’s so flat there drivers can see a parked police cruiser 3 hours ahead of them. Plus, the speed limit is 110km/h, so most of the people drive 130km/h or faster. When I took a road trip out there, I was passed by a number of people going well over 140. Normally I don’t like outside, heartless interventions, but at 140, an elk comes up on you mighty quick… Granted, you can see the elk three hours ahead of you… except at night, when you can only see about 5 minutes ahead.
So… what about those rare moments when breaking the law is actually the safer thing to do?
Then you don’t accept that plea bargain from the judge. “Sorry, Your Honor, there’s just sometimes a man’s gotta speed, y’know?”
Simple: require people to pay for an annual permit renewal that allows them to receive those radio signals from space. That way you’re collecting money from EVERYbody and not just those who get caught speeding!
After all, the Canadian government people own the public airwaves, right?
I wouild have less trouble with this particular example if speed limits made more sense. Logically, it makes sense. Nonetheless, I bridle at the notion of gov’t regulation invading the car. One day we will be ferried around in our self-driving transportation pods, and the romance of the road will be over.
Whaddya mean, “what happens when speeding revenue plummets?” If they can make a car slow down, they can make it speed up. No longer will we have to buy an Audi 5000 to experience unintended acceleration!
All yuor pace are belong to us.
The next logical step: charging $50 every time your artificial limiter steps in to cut you down. And, of course, the pilot program will probably involve repeat speeding offenders, but it would soon spread to everyone once the government realizes how much revenue they can generate by charging massive bucks to every Grandma who breaks the limit by more than 5, or 2.5, or whatever they set it to.
This makes much more sense than limiting every car to a certain speed – this allows the government to escape liability for deaths caused by the inability to speed, while generating ten times as much revenue (let’s face it: we all speed, we just aren’t all caught every time). It’s just a matter of time before it spread to California and their cohorts under the guise of “emissions/fuel economy saving measures.”
I’d expect to see this in the UK before anywhere else.
Nonce:
As Dave Chapelle said…”I’m sorry officer, I didn’t know you couldn’t do that.”
Also, as stated above…
I have a turbo timer wired into my speedometer and parking brake signal. I have an electronic boost gauge that runs with my ACC. I have a small, steering dash installed shift light wired into my tach signal. A hard wired V1. I did all the electronics my self. So yeah, you can legislate this all you want, give it to us down here in the States.
It’ll take me five minutes when I get home to unplug it.
I’ve never been in, or heard of, a situation where breaking the speed limit was necessary to ensure safety. If the difference between a noraml birth and a complicated one means doing 70 instead of 55 then you really should call an ambulance. What if a safe birthing required 90 instead of 70? Or 120? If getting to the hospital is that pressing then you’re already in trouble and there’s no use trying to blame bureaucrats. After all, they could have paved a highway directly from your home to the hospital but they didn’t. Bastards?
As a volunteer ambulance driver, I can assure you that the _last_ place an ambulance speeds is on the way to the hospital. Except in the movies, of course.
We sorta speed–believe me, these things are terrors at 75–with lights and sirens on the way to an MVA, say, because my crew chief and I are both belted in up front. But going to the hospital, with a patient lying essentially loose on the gurney and an unbelted paramedic standing up next to him/her administering an IV, we to a careful speed, no lights and sirens. If somebody’s gonna give birth soon, we’d rather pull over and do it ourselves.
i6 :
February 7th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I’ve never been in, or heard of, a situation where breaking the speed limit was necessary to ensure safety.
Then you’ve never driven on a busy freeway. There are times when I’ve momentarily sped up from 70 to 80+ to avoid an accident. Also, when I’m behind an inattentive driver who is all over the place speed wise and positionally, I want to get around them as fast as possible to reduce the chances of being hit.
The only time I see an ambulance speeding with his lights/siren and running red lights is when they are going to get lunch around here, cops too. As soon as they pull into the Wendy’s or Country buffet parking lot they turn off everything park and mosey on out. And don’t get me started about the college football player busses with 6 police escorts running red lights and doing 60 mph in town.
I really had to drive my wife to the hospital quickly. My son was born about an hour after we got there.
But I didn’t put my wife in danger by driving too fast.
This attempt at creating fear “ZOMG teh baby!” is really offensive to those of us who have actually been in that situation.
I took extra good care of my car in those last few weeks of pregnancy. Kept the fuel up, kept the tires inflated, kept the insurance and registration up to date. Now I’ll add “don’t get caught speeding repeatedly” to the list.
Nonce…
You shoulda just slammed on the breaks, your son would have just popped right out!
One of the absolutely stupidest things I ever did, 25 years ago, was race our three-year-old daughter to the hospital, five miles away, after she’d accidentally scalded herself. My wife had already done the intelligent thing of putting the arm under cold water, etc. but I had to be the big guy and head for the hospital at 99 in our Saab 99. Almost lost it halfway there, on a moderate bend at the bottom of a long downhill.
Got the the hospital thoroughly shaken, and spent 20 minutes doing the paperwork before they even let us in.