I’ve seen the propaganda videos they had when that idea first got floated about. You don’t hear anything about them now I suspect due to all the difficulties in getting it work in the real world. Maybe they could get it manuevered under OJ’s escape Bronco but a real life chase??? Then there’s the problem of carrying enough oomph to generate a voltage spike large enough to damage the ECM. Fantasy IMO.
Most cars already have an RF receiver for the keyless entry. Equip the squad car with a high powered transmitter so it can work from a reasonable distance. Simple enough to add some smarts to the ECM in the car to decode a complex command code sent from the police car (so Joe Schmoe can’t make one) and the car slows to a crawl and stops. ACLU anyone??
“I understand your point, but to simplify that to “speed kills” is an over-simplification. By your reasoning anyone who gets in an accident in a Indy car at 180+MPH will obviously be killed, but that’s not true.”
Now, now, Ranck, don’t oversimplify what I said. Or misinterpret it. As you and I know, Indy cars have numerous safety systems that our cars don’t have. Why would you assume that I included open wheel racers that cost over $1,000,000 in my message?
All slogans are simple. That’s so that people remember them. It might spawn a discussion of what it actually means by being vague. If I spouted statistics would anyone recall them a week later? Would I remember them?
Why do you mix all those factors together to show that speed doesn’t kill? Scientific methods demand that factors be accounted for in an analysis. That would mean there are two kinds of people in this world: those who wear seat belts and those who don’t. They should be evaluated separately. And those groups should be subdivided until a trend, or lack of one, develops. It seems so obvious that if you get into an accident at higher speed, the consequences will probably be worse than at lower speed. That’s what the highway gurus mean when they say that speed kills. And who’s gonna remember the explanation?
My friend’s Nissan Pathfinder had a Speed Manager or Speed Limiter and he could not go above 85 MPH.
If they set it up for that speed then they can make it at a lower speed.
Good idea but unlikely to happen.
The speed limiter was not connected to the OD…but the RPM’s. The pathfinder could easily go past 85…I know for a FACT it could…However it may not let you go past 85 in 3rd gear because the RPM’s would be red-line. It cuts the ignition until RPM’s drop.
A speed governor isn’t the same as a rev-limiter. Make sure you are not confusing the two. If you stomp on the gas in park or neurtal and the engine RPMs go up and down, you have a rev-limiter. These prevent you from redlining the RPMs and they protect the engine. A speed governor will let you maintain a set speed and not go over it unless you are going down hill and gravity is aiding you. If you are accelerating at 87 MPH and your speed suddenly dips down to 85 MPH but will let you accelerate back to 87 MPH and repeat, it is the rev-limiter, not a governor, that is keeping you from going faster.
If you push your vehicle to the point that your rev-limiter inhibits your speed, you need help. It means you have tried to push your vehicle to the point where you are doing harm by redlining the RPMs. Slow down before you wreck your engine.
I’ve heard speed differential cited as a greater cause of accidents than speed alone. In the context of the speed governor debate in trucking, one argument goes–if everyone on the highway is going 100 mph, you’re going to be in better shape than if everyone on the highway is going a different speed. In other words, maybe speed doesn’t kill, passing does.
In response the poster claiming speeding for safety is only an option if you yourself have made a mistake isn’t quite thinking of all scenarios. Let’s say I’m in the left lane passing a tractor-trailer and I am doing the legal limit and the truck is going slower due to their lower limit so, everyone is doing the legal thing. Now, I am nearly even with the driver of the truck. Suddenly, the left steer-tire blows and the truck veers to the left towards me! If I hit the brakes, I’m going to end up under the trailer. The only option is to accelerate past the truck as quickly as possible. Let’s say I’m travelling on a one-lane road with an intersection with stop signs for the intersecting road but, none for me. As I approach the intersection, a driver runs the stop sign. I am at the point where any attempts to stop would put me directly in the path of the oncoming car. By accelerating rapidly, I clear the other car safely. In reference to slowing-down to avoid dangerous drivers ahead such as a sleepy driver of a truck, by doing so, you are subjecting yourself to risks from behind if this forces you to drive slower than the legal limit. Better to pass quickly yet safely than to become a rolling roadblock yourself.
In reference to speed governors. I am a truck driver. Most company-owned trucks are limited not only to a preset top-speed but, to the speed, rpm’s and power output in each individual gear. If the truck has a qualcomm device, the company can control the vehicle from anywhere in the country via satellite. The trucks can and will shut down or drop to idle-speed if the driver is in a restricted area or has driven past their legal hours.
In reference to “speed kills”. The reason for the majority of accidents or more accurately “wrecks”, is not due to speed. If speed killed, every professional racer would be dead. LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL IN DRIVING A VEHICLE is the number one cause of wrecks!!! Ask yourself just exactly how much do you know about driving in extreme situations? Just how much training have you had at controlling a vehicle in a skid? I bet “none”. If you haven’t ACTUALLY driven a car into a skid and back out, you’re only assuming you can handle the situation. How fast and in what distance will your vehicle come to a complete stop? You can’t go by the numbers in your favorite magazine because they didn’t have three people and a trunk full of luggage when they tested and they did it in ideal conditions. BTW, an officer CAN write you a ticket for speeding even if you were doing under the posted limit if the conditions weren’t ideal. The posted speed-limit is for ideal conditions only and are subject to each officer’s interpretation of the conditions present. How closely are you following that motorcycle? Are you aware motorcycles can stop in less than half the distance of a car? When you are approaching an intersection in the left lane and you see a space big enough for you in front of that tractor-trailer in the right lane and you take it, are you aware you may have just taken every bit of space that truck-driver had to stop?
I drive tractor-trailers, tankers, double-trailers, cars,trucks and motorcycles and I DO KNOW first-hand what it’s like to enter a skid and come out of it in all those vehicles.
Ask anyone with a German driver’s license what they had to go through to get their license. The reason Europe has a safer driving record is because they know how to drive! Over here, you can theoretically get your license in under an hour. Over there it may take months. I have no qualms stating “Americans as a whole” don’t know how to drive. Talk amongst yourselves:)
Let’s say I’m in the left lane passing a tractor-trailer and I am doing the legal limit and the truck is going slower due to their lower limit so, everyone is doing the legal thing. Now, I am nearly even with the driver of the truck. Suddenly, the left steer-tire blows and the truck veers to the left towards me! If I hit the brakes, I’m going to end up under the trailer. The only option is to accelerate past the truck as quickly as possible.
First, the difference between truck speed limits and car speed limits in states where they differentiate is 10 MPH. If you car going 10 MPH faster than the truck, you won’t be next to him that long. Second, the part of the truck where you are talking about is called “the no zone” in driver’s education. The smart solution is not to be there. The best choice is the one that prevents you from facing that hazard in the first place. You do have a choice after all.
Let’s say I’m travelling on a one-lane road with an intersection with stop signs for the intersecting road but, none for me. As I approach the intersection, a driver runs the stop sign. I am at the point where any attempts to stop would put me directly in the path of the oncoming car. By accelerating rapidly, I clear the other car safely.
Since most collisions happen at intersections, it would be wise to recognize intersections as potential hazards. That means you should take your foot off the accelerator and place it over the brake before you enter the intersection. This will give you two advantages. The first is that you are poised and ready to stop if someone runs the stop sign. The other advantage is that you will have room to accelerate if that happens to be your best option. If you treat the intersection as a potential hazard, you will be prepared to react if someone runs the stop sign.
I agree that accelerating can help you avoid a hazard or even a collision. However, a better solution is to recognize and avoid hazards before they culminate in a collision. Then you won’t need to accelerate to avoid a collision.
That means you should take your foot off the accelerator and place it over the brake before you enter the intersection.
This is ok for cars with automatic transmissions which essentially coast when your foot is off the accelerator pedal. With a manual transmission, engine drag causes the car to slow down immediately. Your speed would drop by several miles per hour and you would need to accelerate again after clearing the intersection. This would waste gas as well as be a nuisance to everyone following you.
That is the whole point. You want to slow down when you approach a hazard to increase your margin of safety. It is the safe thing to do and the increased fuel usage would be negligible.
I learned this method at truck driving school in the defensive driving component of the instruction. The trucks we learned on are are all manuals.
If everyone following me was smart enough, they would already be doing the same thing. If not, that is no reason not to drive safely.
lorenzo1950 sounds like a good democrat----all we need to take care of any problem is to pass more laws and take away more of our freedoms! the hell with common sense.
lorenzo1950 sounds like a good democrat----all we need to take care of any problem is to pass more laws and take away more of our freedoms! the hell with common sense.
He might be a good republican if he wants to borrow money from future generations to finance his proposal in the name of national security. Or maybe as a good republican he wants to raid the Social Security trust fund so that he can claim there is an “entitlement crisis” and cut benefits? Perhaps he is part owner of a company that installs speed governors to which he can award a no-bid contract after he gets elected? That would make him a good republican too.
"First, the difference between truck speed limits and car speed limits in states where they differentiate is 10 MPH. If you car going 10 MPH faster than the truck, you won’t be next to him that long. Second, the part of the truck where you are talking about is called “the no zone” in driver’s education. The smart solution is not to be there. The best choice is the one that prevents you from facing that hazard in the first place. You do have a choice after all.
Since most collisions happen at intersections, it would be wise to recognize intersections as potential hazards. That means you should take your foot off the accelerator and place it over the brake before you enter the intersection. This will give you two advantages. The first is that you are poised and ready to stop if someone runs the stop sign. The other advantage is that you will have room to accelerate if that happens to be your best option. If you treat the intersection as a potential hazard, you will be prepared to react if someone runs the stop sign.
I agree that accelerating can help you avoid a hazard or even a collision. However, a better solution is to recognize and avoid hazards before they culminate in a collision. Then you won’t need to accelerate to avoid a collision."
Everything you stated is fairly accurate. However, when you said you won’t be next to the truck that long… It doesn’t exactly take very long for a tire to blow and the truck to turn. Probably less than 1/2 of a second. I drive a tractor-trailer for a living. Trust me, I know from experience. You last statement just goes back to my statements that most people don’t truly know how to drive. If they did, they would recognize dangerous situations and avoid them. There’s a reason I have a perfect driving record and I average 2,000 miles a week.