Speed limiters, driver monitors to become mandatory in EU

[Marco]

It's dead easy, folks... Just don't buy a new car after 2021, and instead drive used cars from before that period (of which the choice will be vast), thus avoiding the government's odious and surreptitious, nanny-state, mind-control...

That's certainly what I'll be doing, as the 'powers that be' are *desperate* to suck all the fun out of motoring (have been for years), and force us to bend to 'the system'. Well, this fiercely independent, rebellious anti-establishment free-thinker, who lives in an area where roads are still relatively uncrowded (often empty), and who enjoys driving a nice car, simply isn't having it!

In any case, there's no need to break speed limits (and I don't, especially in built-up areas), because in the right car, on the right roads/conditions, plenty of fun can be still had from 0-70mph, and I intend to continue smiling behind the wheel until I'm forced to swap my car for a zimmer frame

Feck this electric car bollox, too!

Marco [a 'petrol head' for life].

 

[DonQuixote99]

Some people have made cars a 'freedom-and-personal-power' symbol the way Americans have guns.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

@Marco

“In any case, there's no need to break speed limits (and I don't, especially in built-up areas),“

You either do or you don’t.

 

[Marco]

I don't, other than for a very short time, when accelerating and overtaking traffic on a motorway or dual-carriageway. Like I said, plenty of fun to be had from 0-70, in the right car, especially where I live around rural North Wales!

Marco.

 

[Ian M]

I think one of the obvious problems with this approach is that traffic will coagulate in large groups in the way it does on sections of road with average speed cameras and I find that more taxing than traffic moving at different speeds.

I have a car with active cruise and lane guidance and I actually find 50 mph limits on the motorway quite relaxing.

 

[matt j]

What will be the point of any sort of performance model when this is in force? Plenty of people buy performance variants with no intention of going anywhere near a track to use it.

 

[Marco]

Some people have made cars a 'freedom-and-personal-power' symbol the way Americans have guns.

Yup, it's those selfish idiots who are partly responsible for creating this (ridiculous, IMO) new legislation. If folk behaved themselves properly behind the wheel in the first place, and observed the rules of the highway code, then the good (responsible) drivers who still enjoy using their cars wouldn't be getting so heavily punished.

Marco.

 

[Marco]

On quiet, straight roads, Matt [and yes those still exist in certain parts of the country] it can still be fun driving a performance car from 0-70, as the acceleration is a hoot!

Plus, with sports suspension, uprated brakes, wide low-profile tyres etc, it can still be fun throwing a car round country lanes, even at fairly low speeds

Folk also by SUVs, with no intentions of going off-road, and which is arguably just as daft!

Marco.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

I would just like to see the data for how often, in fatal road traffic incidents, one or more of the cars was exceeding the speed limit. Some of the UK’s worst crashes have been caused by speed-limited lorries piling into stationary traffic.

 

[Martyn Miles]

I reckon this is brilliant. I am fed up with being the little Skoda Fabia keeping to the speed limit with a huge SUV so close behind that I cannot even see his number plate in the mirror. I have had a driving licence for 42 years now, and have not yet had a speeding ticket or prosecution. I am happy to keep it that way.

I would like to add that the speed limit is not the advisory minimum for driving!

If the red herring about having to break the speed limit, and, therefore, the law as a safety margin to pass another vehicle had any truth to it, then obviously HGVs would not already be speed governed.

If it is not safe to overtake another vehicle without speeding, then it is clearly not safe to overtake ...

Like George, I have been driving a long time ( since 1968 ) and have never had a warning or a speeding ticket.
I keep to speed limits and it certainly pays dividends in fuel consumption...

As for SUVs ( and Audis ) on your tail, I touch the brake pedal with my left foot a few times whilst maintaining
my speed.
The bright red lights usually make the offenders drop back.

 

[matt j]

On quiet, straight roads, Matt [and yes those still exist in certain parts of the country] it can still be fun driving a performance car from 0-70, as the acceleration is a hoot!

Plus, with sports suspension, uprated brakes, wide low-profile tyres etc, it can still be fun throwing a car round country lanes, even at fairly low speeds

70 isn't the limit on those roads, last time I checked.

 

[Marco]

It is on most dual-carriageways, and doing 60mph (or less), on some twisting, winding country roads, when conditions allow, can still be a whole lot of fun!!

Life, for me, is about enjoying yourself and making some nice memories, while here on this earth, and I love driving. That's why I won't give in to the EU fun-sponges...

Marco.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

Ok, from https://www.racfoundation.org/motoring-faqs/safety#a7:

"Q9) What are the major contributory factors to accidents?

A9) Failed to look properly was the most frequently reported contributory factor and was reported in 41 per cent of all accidents reported to the police in 2017. For fatal accidents the most frequently reported contributory factor was loss of control, which was involved in 27 per cent of fatal accidents.

For accidents where a pedestrian was injured or killed, pedestrian failed to look properly was reported in 49 per cent of accidents, and pedestrian careless, reckless or in a hurry was reported in 16 per cent of accidents.

Exceeding the speed limit was reported as a factor in 5 per cent of all accidents, but these accidents involved 14 per cent of fatalities. At least one of exceeding the speed limit and travelling too fast for the conditions was reported in 12 per cent of all accidents and these accidents accounted for 23 per cent of all fatalities.

64 per cent of fatalities in reported road accidents had driver or rider error or reaction (which includes failing to look properly, loss of control and poor turn or manoeuvre) reported as a contributory factor leading to the accident."

So, if nobody ever exceeded the speed limit, the very best that can be hoped for is a 14 percent drop in fatalities, probably less.
Now to me, that means one thing: speed limits are going to come down on many roads once the data has started to build up.
And @Marco Any decently quick car gets to 70mph so quickly that the fun only last a maximum of 6 seconds. And even a base model supermini can make good progress down country roads. So I'm struggling to understand what it is you're on about with reference to enjoying your car.

 

[DonQuixote99]

Only 14% fewer people smashed to death? Forget it!

 

[Bob McC]

Some people have made cars a 'freedom-and-personal-power' symbol the way Americans have guns.

Only the dicks.

 

[Marco]

Hi Tony,

It's the 'shove' you get when accelerating quickly, especially from a standing start, in a car with 300bhp (or more), plus the engine roar from a fat-assed sports exhaust! It can be rather grin-inducing

Are there any car enthusiasts/petrol heads here, or just folks who see them as a means from getting from A to B, as slowly, cheaply (and boringly) as possible, lol?

Marco.

 

[matt j]

There's loads of petrol heads here, quite a few for whom 300bhp is a tad on the sedate side of things (unless it's in something weighing less than a ton).

But none of your points make much sense.

 

[kennyh]

Are there any car enthusiasts/petrol heads here, or just folks who see them as a means from getting from A to B, as slowly, cheaply (and boringly) as possible, lol?

Marco.

Quite a few of us on here have competed and raced, and I am always amazed when a car thread starts at some of the classic/performance/race vehicles the blokes on here own.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

Hi Tony,

It's the 'shove' you get when accelerating quickly, especially from a standing start, in a car with 300bhp (or more), plus the engine roar from a fat-assed sports exhaust! It can be rather grin-inducing

Are there any car enthusiasts/petrol heads here, or just folks who see them as a means from getting from A to B, as slowly, cheaply (and boringly) as possible, lol?

Marco.

More than you'll guess at. Until two years ago I had a 911 with 345bhp. Had a few quickish cars over the years, but began to realise that, apart from the cost of running a fast car, I was taking one or two too many chances. I have great memories of it all, but it has almost no place in the modern world. And WTF are middle eastern multimillionaires doing in London with their exotica if not just rubbing people's noses in it?

 

[suzywong]

Joke on this subject heard on the radio,

Well Sir, here's your new supercar, 3.9 litre V8, 400 bhp, 0-60 in 2.6 seconds, top speed 70 mph