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Cars don't have speed limiters because otherwise their drivers wouldn't be able to get up to 130 mph on LA streets: https://news.yahoo.com/nurse-reached-speeds-

Cars don't have speed limiters because otherwise their drivers wouldn't be able to get up to 130 mph on LA streets: https://news.yahoo.com/nurse-reached-speeds-130mph-crash-141916618.html https://news.yahoo.com/nurse-reached-speeds-130mph-crash-141.... For the same reason, cars need drift sticks otherwise takeovers would be less exciting: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-22/street-takeovers-sideshow-deadly-toll-los-angeles https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-22/street-t....

kube-system 4y ago
Nearly all cars for the past 25-30 years have speed limiters. This is basically a universal feature on EFI cars. They are not usually set to the maximum speed of some arbitrary legal jurisdiction, though. They are typically set to the maximum engineered capabilities of the vehicle: often limited by the speed rating of the factory tires. In the cases of hybrids or other electrics, they may be set to the safe RPM limits of the motors.
- williamsmj 4y ago
  OK. Sure would be cool if they set them to a number that reflected the fact that there are other road users.
  - kube-system 4y ago
    There isn’t a single value that is appropriate for all circumstances. Drivers have to choose the appropriate speed.
    - williamsmj 4y ago
      Well, there is a single value. It's called the speed limit. All roads in my country have one. I trust you will support dynamic vehicle speed limiters based on the local limit when the technology catches up in a few years. In the meantime, how about 100 mph (which is 15 mph faster than the highest speed limit in the continent of North America)?
      - kube-system 4y ago
        Speed limits aren't a single value, they are multiple values, because there are many different speed limits. 100 mph is way too fast to be going in a school zone. My daily driver has road sign detection... it's going to be more than a few years before it catches up.
        williamsmj 4y ago
        I don't know if you're being obtuse or if I'm being unclear. I know what a legal speed limit is. I don't think people should drive at 100 mph in fog or near a school. (Did you think I was saying 100 mph should be the lower limit?!) Apparently, vehicles are currently limited by the manufacturer to something like "whatever is safe for the engine" rather than "whatever the engine briefly capable of". Sure. Didn't know that. Thanks for telling me that. Not relevant to my point, but interesting. I'm suggesting, in the absence of technology that allows us to limit car speeds dynamically based on local conditions and laws, that vehicles driven on public roads should be limited to min(100 mph, "whatever they are currently limited to, which is an insane speed no one has any business driving at on public roads"). I chose 100 mph because it's a bit higher than the highest legal speed limit on the continent where I live. I'd be fine with a smaller number though.
        kube-system 4y ago
        I am suggesting that this proposal will accomplish nothing. It has no utility in preventing reckless driving, because 100 MPH is already reckless in >99% of scenarios. Your proposed limit would only ever be hit by two potential people: * someone who has a legitimate off-highway purpose for that speed * someone who is already operating their vehicle at 100mph on a public road and still has their foot down. What reckless driving has been prevented? None. In fact, only legitimate users have been impacted. At best, we're just trading edge cases for edge cases. If we discount off-highway uses as an irrelevant edge case, then we can also discount the edge case that someone driving at 130mph did a harm to society but at 100mph they would have been prevented from doing so.
      - nautilius 4y ago
- ultrarunner 4y ago
  Are you suggesting the e-bikes are speed-governed based on engineering limits and not due to legislation?
  - kube-system 4y ago
    No. Just cars.

kube-system 4y ago

Nearly all cars for the past 25-30 years have speed limiters. This is basically a universal feature on EFI cars. They are not usually set to the maximum speed of some arbitrary legal jurisdiction, though. They are typically set to the maximum engineered capabilities of the vehicle: often limited by the speed rating of the factory tires. In the cases of hybrids or other electrics, they may be set to the safe RPM limits of the motors.

williamsmj 4y ago
OK. Sure would be cool if they set them to a number that reflected the fact that there are other road users.
- kube-system 4y ago
  There isn’t a single value that is appropriate for all circumstances. Drivers have to choose the appropriate speed.
  - williamsmj 4y ago
    Well, there is a single value. It's called the speed limit. All roads in my country have one. I trust you will support dynamic vehicle speed limiters based on the local limit when the technology catches up in a few years. In the meantime, how about 100 mph (which is 15 mph faster than the highest speed limit in the continent of North America)?
    - kube-system 4y ago
      Speed limits aren't a single value, they are multiple values, because there are many different speed limits. 100 mph is way too fast to be going in a school zone. My daily driver has road sign detection... it's going to be more than a few years before it catches up.
      - williamsmj 4y ago
        I don't know if you're being obtuse or if I'm being unclear. I know what a legal speed limit is. I don't think people should drive at 100 mph in fog or near a school. (Did you think I was saying 100 mph should be the lower limit?!) Apparently, vehicles are currently limited by the manufacturer to something like "whatever is safe for the engine" rather than "whatever the engine briefly capable of". Sure. Didn't know that. Thanks for telling me that. Not relevant to my point, but interesting. I'm suggesting, in the absence of technology that allows us to limit car speeds dynamically based on local conditions and laws, that vehicles driven on public roads should be limited to min(100 mph, "whatever they are currently limited to, which is an insane speed no one has any business driving at on public roads"). I chose 100 mph because it's a bit higher than the highest legal speed limit on the continent where I live. I'd be fine with a smaller number though.
        kube-system 4y ago
        I am suggesting that this proposal will accomplish nothing. It has no utility in preventing reckless driving, because 100 MPH is already reckless in >99% of scenarios. Your proposed limit would only ever be hit by two potential people: * someone who has a legitimate off-highway purpose for that speed * someone who is already operating their vehicle at 100mph on a public road and still has their foot down. What reckless driving has been prevented? None. In fact, only legitimate users have been impacted. At best, we're just trading edge cases for edge cases. If we discount off-highway uses as an irrelevant edge case, then we can also discount the edge case that someone driving at 130mph did a harm to society but at 100mph they would have been prevented from doing so.
    - nautilius 4y ago
ultrarunner 4y ago
Are you suggesting the e-bikes are speed-governed based on engineering limits and not due to legislation?
- kube-system 4y ago
  No. Just cars.