HWS

Because it's what sells cars.

nova

Mostly marketing hype. often times under normal conditions theres no chance the car could ever do this.

You could lowe a cars gearing way down but make it take minutes to get to 60 mph and have a msive ammount of towing power.with fewer hp and lower top speed. Or you can pour in the horse power and keep the same gearing resultign in faster acel and top end speed and keep the same ability to tow/haul is the main reason for fast acel fast top speed.

FLBandit

Big Brother is watching!

fordfasterr

If slowing down traffic helps save lives, then its worth it.

Of the zillions of people that speed, how many of them cause deaths on the roads ?

How many of those deaths could be avoided by using electronic speed limiters ?



I also like the idea of proximity sensors. For instance, if you drive your car within 10 feet of another car, the system beeps and warns you to back off, if within 3 seconds you are not 10 feet or more back, the system will decellerate you and force you to keep a safe gap.

=)

UmneyDurak

I was commenting to N_Cs post on ONSTAR and it's tracking capabilities, and how it's a great idea not the speed limiting sensor.

genec

1/3 of the approx. 45,000 annual auto traffic deaths are attributed to speeding... So about 15,000 people would live each year if motorists did not exceed safe speed limits.

fordfasterr

Good quote !

UmneyDurak

I don't think zillion is a number. Anyway good questions, and untill there is a study done about it, this conversation is nothing more then speculations. What kills more people, speeding, tailgating, drive driving?

Stacey

This is why we have National speed limit laws of 55 MPH, seatbelt laws and helmet laws.

Just think how many lives we could save if we outlawed coitus. If everyone that is born, dies. Then outlawing births would prevent deaths.

Sounds like a plan to me!

fordfasterr

Tailgaiting just increases the risk of a rear end collision ...

My theory is that if you can't easily tailgate, then you reduce the possibility of rear end collisions....

fordfasterr

I was wondering when you would chime in and give us your anticipated opinion !

=)

Also, in the part of the nation I live in, the speed limit is 65 mph .. lol

Some parts are 65, others 70, others 55 ...

Stacey

Glad I could end your antici...





































pation.

Seems the national speed limit expired about 10 years ago, and I didn't get the memo... again! Well, lets reinact, think of all the lives we could save.

nova

Beleive it or not they already have them. They don't slow you down but they do give a alert beep.

nova

LMAO stacey. I think there is a national guideline still inplace that says all speed limits should be kept to 75 or below or some such.

Never really checked

I-Like-To-Bike

I was wondering when you and the other anti-automobile/anti-motorist ranters are going to chime in with something that ties your wishful conjuring and over-the-top rhetoric into bicycle safety OR bicycling advocacy?

john bono

This is so bad on so many levels that I can't even begin to describe. Imagine driving down a two lane highway where the posted limit is 45 mph, and running into a car doing 40, and trying to pass. Now imagine how long it will take to pass that car while being unable to go above 45, and a semi coming down the road in the opposite direction.

Consider the 25 mph onramp that feeds a 70 mph freeway. Do you really want to wait until you are actually ON the freeway before accelerating into traffic, or do you want to build up to that speed beforehand?

Imagine driving at 64mph to the right of a driver in the left lane who wants to move merge into a right hand exit. Instead of hitting the brakes to go behind you, he accelerates to 65 mph and tries to merge into your lane to go onto the exit. Er, he accelerates to 65mph, and can't accelerate above that, so he merges right into your left quarter panel.


As far as maximum safe speeds is concerned, The autobahn is one of the safest highways in the world, and a large portion has no speed limit at all, and interstate highway deaths here in the US have declined dramatically after the national 55 mph speed limit was removed.

MarkS

I like the idea. I don't know why anyone would think "liberals" would object to it. Sounds like people are getting their ideas of "liberals" from drug-enhanced talk show hosts. It would be the "good old boys" that would object. The idea that people would "take their business elsewhere" is also false, since there won't be anywhere to take your business that doesn't have the same controls.

The ACLU worked to end the McCarthy era of terror and intimidation -- that's a good enough endorsement for me.

Speed control might be too controversial. But how about a remote activated kill switch that will allow officers to shut down vehicles eluding pursuit? It would end these crazy high-speed chases which kill and maim innocent bystanders. It would also allow you to shut down your vehicle within minutes of discovering that it has been stolen. Probably a gradual shutdown in case the thief is in the middle of a traffic lane.

gcl8a

Hey, pipe down. My tax dollars are being spent on watching people like you...

gcl8a

Has anyone shown a connection between increased speed limits and reduced fatalities, or is it just that safety features have become so much better?

Not trying to be one of those people who scream "Source! Show me a source!" But you have to admit this seems counter-intuitive. Well, to me, at least.

genec

Perhaps you can tell us why cars can do 110MPH+ or what the reason is for 0-60 in 4 seconds.

Like I said earlier, I understand the need to pull trailers, but the reasoning behind speed capability for vehicles well beyond the speed limits (and handling ability) of most roads just escapes me.

I-Like-To-Bike

Because they can.

Now your turn; explain the significance of the obsession with the top speed/acceleration capabilities of automobiles on bicycling advocacy/safety issues.

I-Like-To-Bike

Even better yet, show the coorelation between increased highway speed limits and bicycling safety and/or advocacy.

nelson249

There is a way to regulate traffic so the maximum number of people can get to work or wherever as efficiently and quickly as possible.... They are called trains and we used to have lots of them. Nowadays, we are too busy ripping up 'surplus' tracks all over the place and laying down asphalt to carry all the vehicle traffic. Individual motorised vehicles, especially single occupant cars, are the most inefficient way of moving people about and no amount of speed limiting will change that fact.

genec

Sure, no problem... inexperienced motorists mashing down hard on gas pedals of high performance vehicles tend to lose control of said vehicles.

Cyclists on roads where motorists lose control are at the mercy of said inexperienced motorists.

Frustrations brought on by motorists perceiving cyclists as "blocking traffic" can also drive motorists to push the limits of their ability to control vehicles in their frustrations to "get around" said cyclists... "at any cost," resulting in loss of control and again putting cyclists at their mercy.

The National Highway Safety Administration says 1/3 of the approximately 45,000 accidents are due to excessive speed... another 1/3 are due to alcohol related incidents, and the final 1/3 are due to reckless driving/unsafe conditions.

So perhaps 15,000 motorists die each year due to pushing their cars past the safe operating limits...

So now what are the reasons that autos have been mandated to have seatbelts and airbags, yet still have the ability to reach speeds beyond the legal limits of all states... at acceleration abilities that can make the vehicle difficult to handle? Somehow it seems the legal beagles that pushed for seatbelts and airbags forgot the fundamental operating charateristics of the auto in the first place.

-=(8)=-

Originally Posted by genec -
"Perhaps you can tell us why cars can do 110MPH+ or what the reason is for 0-60 in 4 seconds.

Like I said earlier, I understand the need to pull trailers, but the reasoning behind speed capability for vehicles well beyond the speed limits (and handling ability) of most roads just escapes me."

Can someone tell me why bikes need to be made of Carbon Fiber (with its latent obsolecence factor)with brifters etc, when there are steel fixies and 3speeds to be had ?