Mandatory speed controls, coming soon!

[lamcote]

https://www.autocar.co.uk/node/86580

[StuC]

It is sad that 26000 people have lost their lives in the road in the EU.
Some of the measures mentioned I think are good.
Alcohol locks is a good one, as long as there are no work arounds.

All the driver aides in the world still only help so much. The person in control of the vehicle needs to be to a certain standard EVERY TIME they get in the car!!
As I get older, I realised there are times when I am not safe to drive. So I don't drive, often at great expense, BUT I'd rather that than a crash on my conscience and a dent in my pride.

[MR TWO]

Great! All that stuff should make old cars more attractive (it certainly does to me).  Although Alcohol interlock installation facilitation -if its something you must blow into before starting the car- sounds good even if its hard to say!

[lamcote]

Great! All that stuff should make old cars more attractive (it certainly does to me).  Although Alcohol interlock installation facilitation -if its something you must blow into before starting the car- sounds good even if its hard to say!

I reckon it will just check whether you can say it, if you can, you will be allowed to drive! Then there's no need to blow into anything.

[Enjay]

While I too have the immediate reaction of "I don't want all that stuff detracting from my driving experience" and I'm thankfull that I got to spend quite a bit of my early driving experience with cars that could still be tuned by ear and where cameras weren't around every corner, I also recognise that cars and, as a result, all road users are much safer than they used to be.

Sort of relevant - 2009 Chevy Malibu vs 1959 Bel Air:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPF4fBGNK0U

[StuC]

I disagree with these old versus new crash tests. They are just not relatable.

The newer cars have millions spent on them, to make sure they crash properly. As you trace back the legislation on how a car crashes, it diminishes to the point of obscurity. So it's no wonder a modern stiff car demolishes an old one. Old cars are just heavy, not crash efficient.
Rant over.

[Enjay]

I think that's the point though.  New cars have had milllions spent on research to make them more crash efficient and thereby save the occupant's lives.  The millions have worked.

The new car vs old car comparison may not be desperately valid and it's more of a showpiece than anything meaningful but the bottom line is that an occupant of an old car is less likely to walk out unscathed from an accident than they would in a new car, all other factors being equal.

I'd still happily drive an 1950s Chevy though.  The '57 has always been something of a dream car for me.

[StuC]

To add a little context to my point. If you do a crash of a 15 year old car which has had millions spent on it, versus a modern car with millions spent on it. The old one will always come out worse. The newer ones are always stiffer (to meet the legislation). Have a look on you tube for similar lineage crashes. Like an old Range Rover and a new one, something like that.

I do agree that lives have been saved because of this, which is a good thing. The accidents in 99% of cases are still the drivers fault and not the cars!

[lamcote]

Regarding speed control, even if I drive a car that can't exceed the speed limit, I can still have an accident by driving too close to the car in front or by trying to take a hairpin at 60mph.

I would love to know how many accidents are caused by cars travelling over the speed limit as opposed to simply travelling too fast for the specific situation, but within the speed limit, resulting in the accident. I suspect it will be quite a small proportion.

[Enjay]

And there are times when the ability to go above the speed limit for a short burst is actually safer than not being able to do so.

[K T M Rider]

And there are times when the ability to go above the speed limit for a short burst is actually safer than not being able to do so.

With a bit of luck whoever came up with the speed control idea will be killed in a head on crash by a driver unable to safely complete their overtaking manoeuvre due to their car ceasing to accelerate   

[MR TWO]

And there are times when the ability to go above the speed limit for a short burst is actually safer than not being able to do so.

With a bit of luck whoever came up with the speed control idea will be killed in a head on crash by a driver unable to safely complete their overtaking manoeuvre due to their car ceasing to accelerate 

Harsh - but fair!

[1979scotte]

26000 deaths per annum across the EU but only 1700 in the UK.
It seems to me that perhaps some countries need to improve their driver training and traffic enforcement.

To put this figure into some context there were 70 odd thousand UK deaths attributed to smoking related conditions in 2015 alone.
Makes the roads look pretty safe to me.

[StuC]

26000 deaths per annum across the EU but only 1700 in the UK.
It seems to me that perhaps some countries need to improve their driver training and traffic enforcement.

To put this figure into some context there were 70 odd thousand UK deaths attributed to smoking related conditions in 2015 alone.
Makes the roads look pretty safe to me.

Double whammy if you are a smoking driver!

[Ardent]

Have to say scott bet me to it.
26,000 deaths across the WHOLE of the EU is naff all. Sad for those involved but in the context of  deaths overall. Not many at all.

Of those deaths how many were deliberate? Either driver purpousley aiming to kill, or those who commited suicide by deliberatly stepping out into the road. Or those random events like when masonary or trees fall on to often staionary vehicles.

It has been mentioned above £millions have been spent on designing cars. I would rather it be spent elsewhere. Cancer research perhaps.

26,000 across the eu
vs
163,444 cancer related deaths in the UK ALONE 2016
for the chaps here 11,631 died from prostate cancer 2016
for the ladies here, 11,563 died from breast cancer 2016

I know what I would give priority to.

[shnazzle]

Here here Jason.
Stop trying to use technology to give people an excuse to be lazy and thoughtless.
Start spending money on cancer, road quality (how many accidents have occurred from people hitting or swerving from a pothole I wonder).

One thing I want to see; strict tyre safety regulations.
I've driven on tyres on cars we've bought that were NOT safe. Perfect brand new tyres, not safe at all.

[Enjay]

for the ladies here, 11,563 died from breast cancer 2016

It's always worth acknowledging that, although the number is tiny compared to female cases, men can also get breast cancer and there are a number of male deaths due to it every year.  Indeed, that figure is actually 11482 female plus 81 male deaths.

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/breast-cancer/mortality

So guys, check your boobs (moobs?) too.

[Ardent]

One thing I want to see; strict tyre safety regulations.
I've driven on tyres on cars we've bought that were NOT safe. Perfect brand new tyres, not safe at all.

Totally agree.
One of the golfs I bought. Some one had spent good money on a set of rims, looked the muts nuts. And then shod them with the cheapest, nastiest plastic ting tong tyres you ever had the mis fortune sample.

[Joesson]

We can have all the legislation but the problem will still be with enforcement.
This morning, outside our house  on a side road, while I'm swopping our cars around on the drive, a 4x4 Female driver pretending to be Quasimodo with one shoulder up to her ear holding a mobile phone clearly in animated conversation. Well  I suppose that is "hands free".

[Ardent]

for the ladies here, 11,563 died from breast cancer 2016

It's always worth acknowledging that, although the number is tiny compared to female cases, men can also get breast cancer and there are a number of male deaths due to it every year.  Indeed, that figure is actually 11482 female plus 81 male deaths.

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/breast-cancer/mortality

So guys, check your boobs (moobs?) too.

Totally agree with you as well.
I pulled my figures from the same site. Went for prostate and breat as simple illustration.
But when looking, your choice of body part or type is pretty much unlimited.

[Ardent]

Remember someone suggesting removing the air airbag in the steering wheel and replacing it with a spike.
Rear end shunts may well decrease.
Perhaps can be retro fitted, start with Audis perhaps. 

[1979scotte]

Remember someone suggesting removing the air airbag in the steering wheel and replacing it with a spike.
Rear end shunts may well decrease.
Perhaps can be retro fitted, start with Audis perhaps. 

Or 4x4 on the school run.