This is something I've mentioned previously and which seems to have passed most peeps by. The idea is that the car will use its fwd-facing camera which all cars need to have these days for lane assist, radar cruise, etc. to recognise the speed limit, and the ECU will then rein in the power so the car can't exceed it. There'll be an override - you'll have to hit the accelerator hard - but you'll get all sorts of flashing lights and bongs as warnings. I also believe the system will b able to be turned off completely as well. However, this "override" will only be available for a few years to get people used to having the system...
As far as Britain goes, this is an EU law that we don't have to follow, but the govt. have said they will so manufacturers don't have to produce a separate setup just for us (but doing a RHD car is OK, it seems). However, it's not been enshrined in UK law yet, so who knows, it might not happen...
Don't know how you'd go along with retro-fitting such a system to existing new cars. It's probably just an ECU code upgrade....but that also means removing it would also be a code upgrade....
I can't see how they'd expect small-volume makers to fit this tech. It needs too much in the way of hardware etc. and, just as we don't have to have airbags and all that baloney, we won't have to have this speed-limiting stuff either. Cos face it, we'll just be stuck in the Q of cars doing exactly 1mph below the limit...
A positive might be that there'd be no point having speed cameras or mobile speed traps after the systems have been out there for a period of time. Dunno what they'd do about all that lost revenue...or am I being cynical, cos cameras are about road safety and not raising money, aren't they. Ahem.
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