![\"24 September - Germany. Activists demand a speed limit 120 km/h on the Autobahn which will reduce the C02 emissions. Speed limit signs in front of the Ministry of Transport.\" (courtesy greenpeace.org)](https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/activists-demand-a-speed-limit2.jpg "\\"24 September - Germany. Activists demand a speed limit 120 km/h on the Autobahn which will reduce the C02 emissions. Speed limit signs in front of the Ministry of Transport.\\" (courtesy greenpeace.org)")
I like all these automotive technologies that make it possible for the government to spy on you: black box accident data recorders, OnStar vehicle monitoring (complete with built-in microphone and remote "slow down"), insurance-related transponders, etc. I like the assurances the companies provide that they will never share the information with anyone, ever, unless the government twists their arm. And I like not having any of it in my vehicle (when possible). BMW joins the no-thanks parade with a new feature in its next gen 7-Series. The gizmo's camera reads speed limit signs, compares GPS-stored speed limit data to your current speed, and then flashes the fact that you're speeding on the heads-up display. "The new BMW Speed Limit Display will significantly reduce the risk of drivers exceeding the speed limit by mistake,” BMW Group Australia Marketing General Manager Tom Noble tells WardsAuto. "The technology is an information system only and does not intervene in the control or speed of the vehicle in any way, the auto maker says." Whew!
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“The new BMW Speed Limit Display will significantly reduce the risk of drivers exceeding the speed limit by mistake”
I assure you, it’s no mistake :-)
I hope the thing can be shut off (probably using the I-drive wart, in some submenu of a submenu of a sub…)
BMW (and others) need to stop this shit, STAT.
Shouldn’t the headline read “again”? BMW was instrumental in assisting the Nazi regime, after all.
And the “original core” auto factory – which ended up behind the iron curtain in East Germany, was instrumental in assisting the Communist Germany regime.
In fact, during the early 1950’s, some BMW’s sold were in fact built in East Germany and sold as such, until the two separated companies came to an agreement and then the East German cars were actually sold as EMW’s. They had a red roundel (no surprise there – red = communist in Euro-speak).
menno
With all due respect, judging by the number of Mercedes, BMW, Audis. etc. down in the local synagogue parking lot, I think the people most brutally affected by WWII have gotten over it, maybe you could also?
BMW’s Quandt Family: Still No Apology for Slave Labor
Shouldn’t the headline read “again”? BMW was instrumental in assisting the Nazi regime, after all.
With all due respect, compared to Mercedes, Veedub (obviously) and therefore also Porsche (ass-engined Nazi slot car), from what I’ve read BMW wasn’t ‘instrumental in assisting the Nazi regime’ as much as you’re projecting, mostly because they were basically broke at the time and didn’t do much at all really.
This while Mercedes did use forced labour by jewish prisoners and VW/Porsche might not have existed without the Nazi regime.
I think you are refering to the Quandt family and how they’re implicated with BMW, but as for BMW as the company itself, I’m not convinced what you’re implicating is completely true.
Hi eastaboga, I don’t need to get over anything. I’m not upset about BMW, Mercedes, etc. – I was just stating facts! With tongue in cheek.
My weird form of humor, I guess.
I realize we live in an imperfect world; I figured that one out by about 2nd grade.
I’m not a Democrat; I don’t expect to see perfection on earth by throwing money at stuff (more tongue in cheek, okay? – I’m also not a Republican, BTW).
JJ, BMW built aero engines for the Nazis. Look it up.
JJ, BMW built aero engines for the Nazis. Look it up.
I’m sure BMW built aero engines for the German army, any engine manufacturer would do so for the army of the country it’s a part of. Some company in the US will probably have built the engines for the planes used to nuke 2 cities in Japan. That doesn’t mean they thought it was ok to do so, they just act to help their country.
Don’t get me wrong, I visited Auswitz and words can’t describe how sickening it is, and if it weren’t for those nukes a lot of people would have been in Japanese P.O.W camps longer than they were now, but that only makes it more important not to say X = Nazi when it’s not.
I just love it when people pile on BMW for helping out the Nazis. Ummm…I can’t really think of a German company around today that didn’t? Are we gonna pile on GM for building Hummers for the US Military?
RFortier1796:
I just love it when people pile on BMW for helping out the Nazis. Ummm…I can’t really think of a German company around today that didn’t? Are we gonna pile on GM for building Hummers for the US Military?
But we could pile on for GM helping the Nazis.
@Robert:
The current state of affairs looks a little different:
Looks like public humiliation can go a long way…
BTW, BMW themselves have always been very open about their own atrocities committed during the war, contributing to the slave labour fund etc.
As BMW wasn’t owned by the Quandts before 1950, it is not correct to hold the company responsible for crimes committed by the owner family during the 1930s and 40s.
Not that it’s germane to the latest bit of unnecessary electronic trivia, but I met a fellow years ago who was a British bomber pilot during WWII. He still hadn’t gotten over the fact that there were factories producing war materiel for Germany and owned by multinationals which were declared off-limits to British and American bombers.
War is ok, but don’t stand in the way of capitalism.
menno,
My only point about “getting over something” is how the comment about BMW’s position in WWII the 1940’s has any relevance whatsoever to a discussion about speed limit controls in Germany in 2008.
I mean really, there’s a much more interesting discussion here about weighing personal freedom (my right to safely go fast in my car for which I paid sales tax, on a road for which I paid usage tax, burning gas for which I paid tax, with a driver’s license for which I paid tax, with a license plate on the back of my car for which I paid tax, etc.) against the common good (public safety, environmental concerns, etc.)
Does every thread with a German carmaker have to get hijacked?
Somehow we don’t hear much about the American companies that assisted in the genocidal fire bombings of cultural cities such as Dresden, resulting in the most agonizing of deaths for millions of women and children. History is written by the victors, of course.
Moral relativism, isn’t it wonderful. Right is wrong; wrong is right. There is no difference between the axis powers and the allies. Bombing Germany and Japan is no different than the German genocide of many races including those of the Jewish religion by choice or birth. And, we all know how kind Japan was to the people that they conquered, the Chinese, Korean, and American civilians all had a profound respect and love for their Japanese captors.
Godwin’s Law (also known as Godwin’s Rule of Nazi Analogies)[ is an adage formulated by Mike Godwin in 1990. The law states:
“As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”
Have we jumped the shark so soon?
I agree with Stan V, this is going WAY off the rails.
Robert, I commend you for repeatedly calling bullshit on invasive technology. I may have to keep driving my 12-year old Olds indefinitely.
Actually, I have a question for everyone: can any post-1996 car with OBD-II be mined for driving information by Big Brother? Or do we just have to worry about the new stuff?
I’m with Mr. Farago on this one:
And I like not having any of it in my vehicle (when possible)
No BS Big Brother tech in my vehicle. Very nice as toys… in someone else’s car
As a matter of fact, I don’t care much about: GPS, DVD, Sat-Nav, OnStar, idrive, Command, line departing systems, parking assistance in a car…
The simpler the better.
Edit: fredclams, I may also keep driving my 1991 Impulse forever, but at some point I’ll also have to buy something newer. Don’t know if OBD-II systems have some kind of data storage other than DTCs
But definetly, the car will have the least possible ammount of gizmos.
I grew up in the 70’s hearing my parents say they felt like they were sitting on dead relatives when they rode in M-B’s. along with very graphic depictions of what happened at concentration camps.
It took me A LONG time to de-program from thinking all Germans were and are Nazis – not just those from WWII, but Germans today. I know it makes no sense to believe that, but that’s what I believed.
After college, I took a writing class at UCLA Extension and wrote about growing up with this experience. Coincidentally there was a German woman in the class who upon hearing what I wrote began to cry and apologize for the Holocaust. She couldn’t have been older than 27 or 28. I was stunned. Her parents were likely born either during the war or just after it, yet she felt connected to the Holocaust and guilt for it. Very surreal experience, but one that helped me overcome an old and powerful wound.
Rob, +1 for your comment. WTF, BMW?
RF, Thanks for including the link about GM and Sloan. I shouldn’t be shocked, but am anyway.
The connection that is being made here between black-box accident recorders and the Nazi dictatorship is ludicrous.
What is it with pistonheads that they sometimes start whining and making ridiculous comparisons as soon as they think somebody is going to take their toy away?
Folks, if you are interested in your civil liberties, I recommend you concern yourself with the really bad stuff (wiretapping, undermining habeas corpus) that’s happening, and not with some supposed conspiracy between BMW and the (German?) government. (This is coming from a person who penned harsh words about crimes committed by Quandt-BMW).
Lumbergh21,
What kind of crazy revisionist history are you reading?!? There’s a massive difference between the Axis and Allied powers. The reason the US bombed Germany and Japan was because both of those countries declared war on the US! There is a massive difference in dropping bombs to start a war and dropping bombs to end a war.
And how can you possibly say that dropping bombs is no difference than genocide? Bombs dropped on Japan and Germany were chosen for a specific target reason, whether militarily or to ensure that a message to stop the war was sent (2 atomic bombs); targets were chosen to try to ensure the least loss of life possible.
Whereas specific genocidal targeting was (is) done only for the sake of the wanton systematic destruction of another group driven by hate / fear / ignorance.
And how can you possibly say that dropping bombs is no difference than genocide? Bombs dropped on Japan and Germany were chosen for a specific target reason, whether militarily or to ensure that a message to stop the war was sent (2 atomic bombs); targets were chosen to try to ensure the least loss of life possible.
Speaking of revisionist history…
There were no military assets of any merit in Dresden or many other German cities. The stated goal, by Arthur Harris himself, was to kill and terrorize as many civilians as possible – much like the attacks of 9/11.
There was also no military value in bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That is why they hadn’t been bombed before. All the “for the greater good” talk is nonesense, as the Japanese had offered surrender since 1943 and were set on surrender before an American invasion. The nuclear attacks were a demonstration of American power to the Soviet Union – nothing more.
So yea, Germany and Japan started the war, but the Allies showed no hesitation in their willingness to kill women and children on an epic scale. Is it worse to be gassed or burned to death? I’d say they’re both grisly..
GM didn’t build hummers for the military.. they got the rights for the civilian market from AM General (am as in american motors). AM General still builds the mil spec stuff.. not general dynamics.. but its the same concept =-P
What’s really sad and pathetic: All these tech gizmos (cellular / GPS / Cameras) could really do some good when it comes to nailing really dangerous / incompetent drivers. But their only focus is speed. Nothing else matters…
The poor slob driving 10mph over on an empty highway at 7am for a Saturday OT shift has a 100x better chance of getting ticketed than the rush-drive, cell chatting, cut-off artist.
Is there a reason no aspiring politician can say the above? Or are they all that stupid?
For a site that prides itself on removing criticism flames, there sure is a free hand given to political B.S., which has detroyed just as many sites as real flaming.
At the risk of starting a flame war by returning to the original subject (the over-gadgetization of new cars), I’m wondering where it ends.
I use Microsoft Word every day and would like to strip about 80% of the crap out of it so that it was truly useful, but Bill & Company aren’t having any. I have a cellphone that will do voice dialing (never used it) and exercise at least 20 different features I will never use, simply because some programmer thought “this is cool!”. The Apple iPhone is however proof that there are those folks out there who want to be totally geeked out by the products they buy. Maybe they are the “early adopters” who are driving these digital auto “features” which many of us do not want.
Having said this, there are some smart things which have been added: Once you have electric mirrors, how nice it is that one of them can figure out you’re in reverse and thus may want to see where the curb is (partly because modern cars have almost zero visibility to the right rear quarter). Once you have ABS and digital fuel injection, it seems reasonable to create a traction control system that helps the driver not do something stupid in poor traction conditions.
Robert – how about a TTAC Q of the Day or Poll on which “modern” features are worthwhile? Could make for interesting reading based on the non-political responses to this thread.
…and now returning to the political B.S.
Qwerty…that would take all the fun out of it.
edgett… I got my iPhone because my Razor (a first gen one no less) crapped out on me, and I had to get a new phone. My father had an iPhone, but figured a Blackberry was much more usefull for his company, so he got the blackberry, and I took the iPhone off his hands free of cost.
That being said, I would have much rather just paid for a new phone. Its an amazing piece of equipment, as long as you don’t need a real phone. I miss my old Nokia…