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Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

arstechnica.com

161–170 of 277 posts

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I drive a 392 challenger scat pack shaker... I don't think I've ever had it over 100, though the max is 201. I'm not sure I'd be bothered by a regulator for the top speed. That said, I don't think speeding is even close to the number 1 killer these days... Cell phones seem to be the leading cause of accidents these days. Maybe they should detect motion over 5mph and turn off display of messaging apps, only bluetooth…

> accidents I prefer to use the term "collision" because "accident" implies there's nobody to blame.

Wunnnnnderful

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#162
post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only reason to go fast is for thrills. Going fast is dangerous to other people, hence: fuck you, go slower. I don't care what situation you pull from your ass to give a counterexample, 99.99% of people driving over the speed limit by more than 10-20 are driving dangerously.

> Going fast is dangerous to other people Depends on where you are. If you're on private property or a track (lots of them open to the public), you're only a danger to yourself. OP didn't say he was on a public roadway when he hit the limiter.

>I don't care what situation you pull from your ass to give a counterexample

Very few people are in that position and I don't give a crap about their "needs" on the track.

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many places in the USA, passing a cop while hitting the limiter would result in at least a night in jail, instant driver's license loss, and lots and lots of money. The vast majority of Americans cannot afford even a basic speeding ticket, let alone that kind of expense. So no, you aren't the only one, but certainly experiencing that kind of risk is a massively luxurious thing that the vast majority of people cannot…

"experiencing that kind of risk is a massively luxurious thing that the vast majority of people cannot afford" That seems a strange way to characterise breaking the law.

If you have enough money or resources there are plenty of laws you can afford to break.

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#164
post #74

I would love if all cars had a cruise speed mode where I could say, I want the top speed to be 60, and it never goes faster. The difference here is that I would choose this speed, instead of it being set only by the manufacturer. It is also OK if the car had both limits, a manufacturer max and a lower max speed configurable by the driver.

It's called a speed limiter, it's in series in many cars. Don't American cars have it?

[deleted]

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#165
post #105

If I were automaker I'd consider allowing bursts above the maximum speed limit for a few seconds. I'm not a fan of limiting (besides for warranty, electronics reasons) and prefer to educate rather than restrict. However, if taking this approach I believe you should consider that some people might drive in the limit and they deserve to be in power of their vehicles regardless. Imagine if you drive near this software-l…

In all of my 32 years of driving and over many many miles I've had exactly one situation where acceleration helped me avoid an accident and it wasn't anywhere near the local speed limit. On the way to visiting another HN user I was about to turn left and looking into the low sun waiting for a vehicle that was barely visible to pass. Then I moved across the lane and another vehicle appeared quite close behind the prev…

I have absolutely been in a situation where acceleration was the deciding factor (apart from quick reflexes) in avoiding a crash.

However, it certainly was not at highway speeds. There's simply no reason to need to go faster than 180kmh on public roads.

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this what cruise control is? Or do you want this to be a hidden limit, say for one's kids' cars?

Cruise control won't hit the brakes if you are going downhill and exceed your set speed. I think he's looking for the latter. Setting it to 60 is probably too low though unless the OP only ever drives in the city. I'm hoping he's not one of those people who immediately shove their way over to the far left lane of the interstate and never move until they suddenly jump across three lanes of traffic at the last second t…

> Cruise control won't hit the brakes if you are going downhill and exceed your set speed.

On an EV it will. Well, it uses the regenerative braking but I could clearly see the flow of regenerative energy going back to the battery while on cruise control and going down a hill. (This was on a Nissan LEAF.)

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only reason to go fast is for thrills. Going fast is dangerous to other people, hence: fuck you, go slower. I don't care what situation you pull from your ass to give a counterexample, 99.99% of people driving over the speed limit by more than 10-20 are driving dangerously.

In vein of your reply, I'll simply say "Stay out of the left lane." The VAST majority of collisions I've seen which involved a driver exceeding the speed limit were caused by people erratically impeding traffic by cutting them off in the left lane. When I say "I've seen", I mean "I've personally witnessed". It happens constantly in traffic here, and it's usually someone doing 50 in a 70 cutting into the left lane in…

Your entire post here was blaming the drivers going the speed limit by using anecdotal evidence and claiming that speeders are not the dangerous ones. In other words: complete bullshit.

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#168
post #149

There is no circumstances under which a maximum speed of 112 would bother me. I drive a Honda Fit. I don't think I have ever driven it over 85 miles per hour (137km/hr). I'm not comfortable driving faster than that. What makes me mad is that my speedometer goes up to 140mph! Why?! The only answer I've ever seen that makes sense is that it's a marketing tool, but who honestly buys a Honda Fit and thinks to themselves…

> I'm not comfortable driving faster than that. Of course you're not comfortable driving faster than that in a Honda Fit. That's like saying you're not comfortable going faster than 30 in a golf cart. In the right car and on the right roads, hitting 120 is as simple and easy as hitting 70 in typical econoboxes. And actually, I'm not even talking about a Porsche 911; more like, every German car, especially Audi/BMW/Me…

> But the big problem is the roads and the culture around speed. America doesn't have either of those things, and probably never will.

A culture of safety is not a "big problem" IMO. The "big problem" is that a vehicle at 120mph requires an insane stopping distance.

On dry asphalt:

* 60mph: 172 ft * 120mph: 688 ft

[1] http://forensicdynamics.com/stopping-braking-distance-calcul...

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#169
post #73

Even when I was on the Autobahn (in a Volvo S6 no less) my max speed was 108 mph, and most of the time I settled in at 100 mph. But there will definitely be some people pissed off at this, as I saw people clearly going closer to 120 on occasion.

I've been in a car doing 120mph on the autobahn once, which was the fastest the Vauxhall Zafira we were driving would go. We had gotten stuck in a traffic jam and were late for our train.

We had a couple of Ferrari's come up on our tail. I've no idea how fast they were going, but it was a fair bit faster than us!

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I drive a 392 challenger scat pack shaker... I don't think I've ever had it over 100, though the max is 201. I'm not sure I'd be bothered by a regulator for the top speed. That said, I don't think speeding is even close to the number 1 killer these days... Cell phones seem to be the leading cause of accidents these days. Maybe they should detect motion over 5mph and turn off display of messaging apps, only bluetooth…

> accidents I prefer to use the term "collision" because "accident" implies there's nobody to blame.

My Ag Science teacher used to say that. (not so much about collisions, but other incidents)
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