Automatic braking...coming to a car near you!
 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...766449,00.html

I thought I'd read a report today that they had GPS problems so were having to rethink this????

DRIVERS prevented from breaking speed limits by a device that automatically applies their brakes have a fifth fewer crashes, a government-funded study has found. ...The overall risk of having a crash falls by 5 per cent for every 1mph reduction in speed. (Right. And if you reduce the speed to zero you have zero risk of crashing.)

If the driver crosses from a 40mph area to a 30mph area without slowing, the brake pedal lowers automatically and the speed drops to the limit within a few seconds. ...Results from the first of four six-month trials, each involving twenty drivers, show that average speeds declined significantly....Oliver Carsten, Professor of Transport Safety at Leeds university, said: “The system didn’t eliminate speeding, but there was a very substantial reduction in excessive speed.” (A remarkable conclusion from testing a machine whose primary purpose is to press the brake pedal.)

The trial found that young males were more likely to override the system than women and older drivers.




NSS :rolleyes:

Great why not remove all decision from people when driving and turn us all into zombies.
This system can only work properly when all cars are fitted with this.
Still think the money would be better spent on proper training for people on the road and Police presence on the road with the ability to get rid of uninsured, dangerous vechiles etc.

Richard

"Most of the motorists who took part were keen to keep the device at the end of the trial, despite it removing much of the thrill from driving."

Pure Government propaganda. This is another example of the 'social engineering' that was mentioned on another thread. Keep telling the lies long enough and they become fact.

Slowly but surely we (the population) are being set up for the introductioon of ISA

Anyone else thinking a world of Demolition Man here?????

<Nods>

They wont get me i will live below the city ;)

so what happens when the car in front suddenly slows from 40 to 30 in a few seconds due to this gadget and the car behind doesn't because it doesn't have the gadget fitted? or does this not happen?

or he notices at the last minute and slams on the brakes which inturn rattles teh car behind and the car behind him plows into the back because he is not in the 30 limit yet, forcing the car into the back of the car in front. atmittedly the car with the device did not have an accident which is what the government said but the 4 cars behind it are in a mangled heep.

Come on, you don't seriously think it applies full brakes? Obviously it applies the brakes progressively to get you to the desired speed, in the same way that cruise control doesn't open the throttles wide open and then snap them shut at the desired speed.

We are all human, we make mistakes, it a fact of life! As long as there are cars, there will be car accidents!

Planes are computerised now and they still fall out of the sky! Trains run on rails with automated signal boxes, and guess what they still crash!

Every morning as we get out of bed we are all at risk! So What! thats life!

It infuriates me about all this technology, whats wrong with living, making mistakes, and enjoying ourselves!

If you reduce your speed to zero, it does not mean that you wont have an accident. It just means that it is unlikely to be your fault. :rolleyes:

so could someone just explain to me why when a car goes into a 30 and is slowed to 30 thats a problem?

there are still accidents at 30mph!

". ...Results from the first of four six-month trials, each involving twenty drivers, show that average speeds declined significantly...."

No sh!t brainbox. lol.

Kam

Sometimes it is safer to do more than 30mph in 30mph zone. Part of being a free person is being allowed to make that decision and living with the consequences, whatever they may be.

Tiggs, the thing that scares me more is when one of these devices operates incorrectly and puts the driver and other road users in potential danger due to 'automated safety' at the wrong time.

OK it may never happen and these devices may never come to fruition, but we all know how reliable electronics are ;) More problems arise when people then rely upon the device to slow them down rather than doing so themselves which they ought to do if they are paying due care and attention to the road conditions and their general surroundings.

doesnt answer my question at all.

when? i do more than 30 loads but i cant see its ever "safer"

Freudian slip. That should have read 'safe' ;)

we use a zillion things every day that need to work right. shall i get rid of my oven because if it goes wrong it'll blow up......shall i not use electricity?

if you had to have someone drive your mum accross town would you have Mr Boring in his speed limited car or Chav head with his own "free will"

i rode a motorbike for 5 years..never fell off - so was it safe for me to have not bothered with a helmet?

T

That would have been your choice. Would you have preferred the government to have glued your helmet onto your head?

My point was that doing 30 is'nt a problem, but there would still be accidents. All of the saftey cameras on our roads havent cut road accidents, so would everyone driving at 30, never have an accident?

I doubt it. I agree with speed limits areound built up areas and schools, but sometimes you need to use a short burst of speed for safer driving.

I'd hazard a guess that car electrics fail more frequently compared to ovens though ;)

GPS signals aren't overly reliable either but could make a fun game if you can transmit your own and control other people's cars ;)

So you'd be happy for people to rely on them to slow them down rather than applying the brakes themselves?

I'm an annoying speed limit observer so it wouldn't affect me other than if it went wrong and decided to brake for me when it wasn't required.

I'd also like to mention that I am a bit of a control freak which is probably one reason for my apprehension ;)

Does anyone else get the impression that tiggs and PSLewis are the same cantankerous, argumentative old codger or is it just my imagination :D

Both of em are any excuse for an argument! I bet tiggs voted New Labour aswell.

Neh, Tiggs likes to play devil's advocate, Pete likes to play like a stuck record ;):D

I'd like to see you try. GPS is a military system, and surprisingly they thought about jamming when they designed it. For a start, do you know the algorithm to generate the pseudorandom codes?

Nope, but then I don't know how to build cars but I still drive one. I let someone else do the donkey work ;)

I tend to find a nice piece of masonry blocks a GPS signal fine, although doesn't provide you with any control over it :D

The major problem I see with these type of systems where they limit your max speed is that most people will assume that because cant exceed the max limit its safe to drive at that speed regardless of weather / road / other conditions- aka as dodgem car - pedal to the metal style.
I know where the money should be spent and its not on these systems !

Richard

The car companies are working on all types of "driver assist" systems, including emergency braking if some obstacle/other vehicle suddenly appears in your path, and steering assist for use on motorways to keep you to the middle of the lane. Time will tell whether they make it to production.

hang on retard.....this is a post for people to moan and whinge about speed limiters on cars and how they dont want to submit themselves to it.....how am i the cantankerous one?

and i didnt vote for new labour.....in fact i didnt vote, my politics are "im all right jack" and i would rather get on with making a success of my life/business than moaning about why i cant because of whos in power - given a choice i'd like to have been 15 years older as the 80's and Thatcher would have suited me perfect.....but i dont have that choice so i get with it.

i also dont like the way SN debates by acting with as much stupidity in favour of its own opinion as does the thing it dislikes. if you think that this system will be stopped by people suggesting that it will screech the car to a halt to quick they will get rear- ended then you need a GPS beacon on your head because you arent safe to be out on your own.

its the same stupid idea that causes people to say speed cameras are no good because you have to look out for them all the time.........there are many reasons why cameras are stupid but crap like that isnt one of them and will never be a succesfull way of tackling the issue.

so when i see a crap idea being attacked by equally crap ideas i comment.

T

ps- whats with mentioning PS Lewis all the time.....if people dont like him then shut up about him...you may as well drop to your knees and pucker up the way you fule his ego every day by moaning about him.