http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/s ... it-devices

Can't imagine that'll happen any time soon for various reasons

Load of crap. On some of the country roads I take to work, I have to overtake slow moving vehicles like tractors. If I can't do it with enough speed, or if there's an oncoming car, I may well end up in a crash.

It seems to me you can't need to spend more than a tiny fraction of a second over the speed limit if all you are doing is overtaking a tractor. Unless it's a speedy tractor.

Not only a loaf of crap, but a massive waste of money.
High end cars already have radar with automatic breaking. In ten/fifteen years most new cars will have it too

It's more about short openings most of the time when I'm on some of the rural roads, you might have a decent passing gap, but to overtake at 30 (being stuck behind a tractor this is optomistic) is dangerous as you can't overtake quickly to return to your lane.

If they bring it in I'll register my next car as a track car and see them try to fit it and tell them I need to be able to turn it off

The new Golf GTI has it fitted, so it's almost inevitable most cars will have it in less than five years IMO.

It may not be a tractor. I've overtaken drivers doing 40mph on a NSL single carriageway because they're oblivious to the NSL sign. Takes more than a fraction of a second.

I'm a non driver, and don't know what NSL means. But what is the speed limit on that street and what is the length of the vehicle you are passing?

If the speed limit is 10 mph faster than the car you are overtaking is going at, and the offending vehicle is a few meters in length, then surely by the time you break the limit you are already almost past the vehicle? In which case I can't see how physically you would get far above the limit before it was already time to slow down again.

'National Speed Limit'. Essentially the speed you are allowed to go on roads which have the 'white circle with black diagonal stripe' road sign on them. Small kudos to anyone who can tell me what speed that is .


Depends on the capabilities of the vehicle as well - a higher power to weight ratio usually gets faster acceleration and therefore a shorter distance while overtaking before you hit the actual limit but the less distance you travel in the overtaking manoeuvre, so the less time you're exposed to oncoming traffic.

Is it 60?

I would have thought there would be no technical reason why this device can't make an annoying noise for a few seconds before slowing you down if there's a valid safety concern relating to short bursts of speed. I recall being driven around in Qatar a while ago in a 4x4 that made exactly that noise for about 50 miles. We ignored it, but that's ok because they all drive like bastards out there.

Germany probably won't be implementing this. More likely will be having the speed displayed in a hud on the windscreen, like the BMWs and Mercedes already do.

In other news, France is being forced to approve the Mercedes for sale that are still using the older environmentally unfriendly AC gas, because Mercedes and the ADAC (German AA) proved that the new alternative is a fire hazard and if the cylinder is damaged or the lines have a leak in the engine bay, it would cause a fire, something the older gas won't do.

60 on single carriage roads, 70 on dual carriageways and motorways.

The problem of overtaking is probably the biggest issue for me too. On motorways I can see it being useful as it stops dickheads driving at 100+ And practically driving through your car when you're "in their way".

For overtaking, there is no set rule of what speed will get you past quickly enough. When overtaking on a country road the rule I tend to follow is get past and back into the correct lane as quickly as possible.

Of course I check for oncoming traffic and make sure the road is ok and visible.

However, what would happen if you went to overtake and find out half way through the manoeuvre that your brakes are being applied and you no longer have the ability to pass whatever it is you're passing and in fact are on course for a collision either head on or side on.

Wouldn't that mean you were overtaking somebody who was already at the speed limit?

It all depends on circumstances. Irrespective of how fast the car is going, if I overtake it, I do so at speed. On a 60mph road, I may hit 80mph as I'm going past the car that I'm overtaking. Especially if there's suddenly an oncoming car. I've also had to floor it when alongside a lorry that is indicating to move out and clearly hasn't seen me. As a consequence, when going past any kind of lorry, I do it hard and fast and sometimes ensure there's a lane in between us.

I'd also add the scenario that I have come across on motorways and A roads which are dual carriage ways. Each time it's been a quick decision: stamp on brakes or stamp on the gas.

The scenario is this - you are driving at pretty much the same speed as the rest of the traffic, and a car decides to change lane. The driver has not looked where they are going and you are in danger of trading paint, not just with that car, but other traffic on the road. You can't change Ames to give the car space because of other traffic/lack of lanes etc..

Do you:
A - sit tight and hope they spot you, but you risk a side impact with it

B - hit the brakes , noting that gradual deceleration here may not get out out of trouble, and hope that the cars behind you have got brakes at least as good as yours, and that the drivers have good reaction

C - Drop a cog, floor the gas and get yourself out of the situation using illegal speeds?

I think in my time on the road, I've made each of those decisions, and thankfully I've so far not come a cropper. I think I'm lucky as my current car has the necessary grunt to get me ahead of other traffic pretty quickly if needed. My previous car was retry handy too, but there have been times when I've had to brake and hope that others can also brake quickly. Once I had to drive on the central reservation of the A41 because some dick in a van decided to slew off the slip road across all the Kane's and wasn't looking. It was that or being crushed.

That aside, I've been winding about this more. Firstly, if your car has some kind of traction control, then the car's computer has control of the brakes. So fitting a box to limit the speed is a simple case of patch into that system.

However, not all cars have this - especially older cars. Will those be required to fit some kind of mechanical system to control the brakes? I can imagine the prices not being cheap.

This also gives you a black box in your car. Something insurance companies will want access too, as well as law enforcement. Eventually, it will be part of the road pricing system that will take over from the car tax.