review@drutx.UUCP (Millham) (07/02/84)
[Honest Officer... I didn't take it off, it just fell off!] How 'bout this one, All cars built with a little device that won't allow the car to go > 55? Or better yet, have speed limit signs that put out a signal that your car reads and won't allow you to go any faster than. Of course devices like that could be easily removed, or someone could set up a transmitter near the road to make cars go 100, or ..... Brian Millham AT & T Information Systems Labs Denver, Co. ...!drutx!review
ags@pucc-i (Seaman) (07/03/84)
In Japan they require vehicles to carry a set of lights wired to a speed detector. This applies at least to trucks and busses; I'm not sure about cars. The device is apparently tamper-proof and causes three lights on the cab to light up to indicate the speed. In particular, the center light comes on if the vehicle is speeding. The lights on either side come on at lower speeds. I have actually seen vehicles travelling down the highway with the center light flickering, thus advertising "Look! I'm speeding!" -- Dave Seaman "My hovercraft is full of eels." ..!pur-ee!pucc-i:ags
guy@rlgvax.UUCP (Guy Harris) (07/06/84)
> How 'bout this one, All cars built with a little device that won't > allow the car to go > 55? Or better yet, have speed limit signs > that put out a signal that your car reads and won't allow you to go > any faster than. Well, I think trucks in Europe (at least in some countries) have to be equipped with a "tachograph", which records the vehicle speed at all times, and the record from the tachograph can be used to retroactively prove speeding. Trouble is, what if your speedometer is off (speedometers have to read values >= the correct value, by law, at least in new cars)? What if you have to pass somebody noodling along at 50 on a 55MPH highway, and you want to get past them reasonably quickly? Cars in Japan have to have chimes that sound when the car goes above some speed (I think 62MPH - 100KPH - which is, I believe, the national speed limit), and a fuel cut-off device that goes off at 100MPH or so. I think that a cutoff flat at 55 would be a major nuisance even for drivers who go 55 - and does nothing about roads with lower speed limits. The speed limit signs with transmitters would be rather expensive and a major pain when they break down. And given the complaints about the 55MPH limit now, just imagine what'd happen if something like this were *proposed*, much less *implemented*! Guy Harris {seismo,ihnp4,allegra}!rlgvax!guy