Feds want speed reduction tech in every new car. Are American drivers ready?

[Eugene]

Source: TechCrunch

Feds want speed reduction tech in every new car. Are American drivers ready?

Rebecca Bellan@rebeccabellan / 7:15 AM EST•November 16, 2023

On a Saturday afternoon in January 2022, a 2018 Dodge Challenger ran through a stop sign in Las Vegas, picked up the pace to a speed of 103 miles per hour and flew through an intersection on a red light. The Dodge struck the right side of a Toyota Sienna minivan, which carried seven occupants, causing four more vehicles to crash. The driver and passenger of the Dodge, as well as every passenger in the minivan, died.

The National Transportation Safety Board, a U.S. government agency that investigates such accidents, found that in this scenario and many others like it, a technology that limits the speed of vehicles could have mitigated the scale of this tragedy. The driver, who was found to have cocaine and PCP in his system which impaired his decision-making, had a record for breaking the speed limit.

The NTSB concluded that intelligent speed-assist technology (ISA) should be standard equipment in all new vehicles to prevent needless deaths. It’s no longer enough, the agency argues, to rely on states to deter driver speeding and recidivism. The agency, which doesn’t have the power to make regulations, is calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to mandate the use of this technology going forward.

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Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/16/ntsb-speed-reduction-tech-in-every-new-car/

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Related: NTSB Calls for Technology to Reduce Speeding in All New Cars (NTSB)

[jimfields33]

1. I always wondered why they just didn't make max speed 75 MPH.

I chose 75 because quite a few highways have 70 as a maximum.

[TwilightZone]

5. Speed limits are 80 and 85 on many Texas freeways.

Many other states have limits higher than 70.

[jimfields33]

11. Oh wow. I guess that's why they go to 135 and up

Thanks for that info.

[getagrip_already]

2. Queue rwnc outrage in 3, 2, 1....

Now check faux....

[TwilightZone]

8. One doesn't need to be a Republican to disapprove.

Collision-mitigation technology is a much better option. Vehicles detect that there is a crash imminent and brake, as needed. Many new vehicles already have this.

[getagrip_already]

14. How does applying brakes at 110 mph in an intersection

Help?

Automatically or otherwise, it's too late. The issue is the speed, not the brakes.

[TwilightZone]

15. Again, it would have braked as soon as it determined a crash was imminent.

Radar calculates the difference in speed between the vehicles and determines their paths.

Some of the systems can detect cross-traffic. As soon as the system noted the other vehicle was going to be in its path and that they were going to collide, it would have nailed the brakes. It doesn't wait until it gets to the intersection, if that's what you're implying. The time frame is in milliseconds.

Any reduction in speed results in a reduction in the force of impact.

The technology is already proven to save lives, which is why the NTSB has been wanting to make it mandatory for years.

[getagrip_already]

16. Not enough distance...

Sorry, the stopping distance for a vehicle moving 96 mph is over 500 feet. No sensor is going to pick up a vehicle coming through an intersection far enough away to stop in time.

Speed kills. Technology is not the answer.

[mitch96]

19. I think we already have the tech.. Cruise control and GPS speed indicators.

If the limit is 65 the cruise control or some form of it, limits the speed to the posted limit.
The speed is determined by GPS or sensors that can read speed limit signs.
On my mazda when on cruise control, it has automatic breaking or slowing if there is a car in front of me.
The car automagically posts the speed limit on my dash.
Will it piss off a lot of people, yup.
The problem is many local municipalities rely on revenue from speeding tickets. It will never pass I think..
m

[gay texan]

3. Nope

There are times when you need throttle to escape a bad situation

[ret5hd]

4. Just throwing this out there:

WHAT IF…

it could be statistically proven that such technology would result in a net decrease in deaths/injuries?

I’m not claiming that is the case. Just asking.

[gay texan]

9. I live 20 miles from a hospital

So say someone has an injury and i need to get them to medical attention quick.

Speed limits 55, and i need to go faster, but my vehicle is limited to only 5mph over.

No.

Real driver training is whats needed. Use the driver education system thats in germany.

[TwilightZone]

12. +1 on driver training. Should be mandatory.

As I noted in another response, collision-mitigation technology is a much better alternative anyway. Car detects an imminent collision and hits the brakes, as needed. That would have helped in the situation detailed in the OP. The NTSB wants it to be standard on all vehicles.

Some cars are even starting to include intersection cross-traffic collision-avoidance systems.

[Ferryboat]

13. Problem with driver training

We treat driving as a god given right, while Germany treats it as a privilege to be earned.

Quite frankly once you have your license there is seldom if ever anymore type of training.

I would be happy if people would use the turn signal. Like they were trained to. Not an afterthought to be flipped on the last 100'.

[Chainfire]

17. I think that it must be unlawful to use turn signals in some States.

Most folks from Georgia either don't know what turn signals are for or either they believe that it is none of your damn business where they are going.

There is nothing like a Texan, driving a King Ranch pickup , pulling a horse trailer, homesteading the fast lane of the interstate, at 69 MPH. Doing synchronized driving with the semi in the slow lane. Traffic backed up to the horizon with pissed off drivers, and they just mosey on along...

I don't really know what the REAL speed limit is on our interstates. I set my speed control on 78, and hunt a soft spot in the slow lane, and watch the folks blowing by me, and rarely see a car pulled any more.

Cars don't need to go over 80 mph, especially in the day of texting and driving. It is an extreme rare occasion where it makes more sense to drive a trauma victim, at breakneck speed, to a hospital, when trauma specialists can come to you in an ambulance with lights and sirens.

[Axelrods_Typewriter]

21. I've said for years that it should be harder to get a license than it is.

Just taking a test a month-old banana could pass and driving around the block without killing anybody isn't enough.

I've also thought a quick 2-4 question quiz at each license renewal would be a good thing. Nothing complicated, just things that any truly safe driver would know.

[NoRethugFriends]

6. Exactly

[TwilightZone]

7. Agreed.

For example, when next to an 18-wheeler on the freeway and the truck starts drifting into your lane, accelerating ahead of it is often the best option, depending on proximity and other traffic.

[liberal N proud]

10. Will it be relational?

Meaning different maximum speed for different roads based on type of roadways and location.

Regardless, it’s something that gearheads will quickly learn how to bypass.

[gay texan]

18. Gearhead here

Yep....

[Best_man23]

22. This gearhead seconds this comment

At times, you do need that throttle to get away.

[Old Crank]

20. Every new car needs to have GPS governed speed control.

You can only do the speed limit max. Period.
You can have speed reduction tech that slows cars down but you also need to make speeding impossible.
Education hasn't worked. We build wide lanes that people feel they can speed on because they feel safer.