OT: Speed limiters on cars

No "offence": this is all civil law, not criminal

If you park where there are signs like what Roland mentioned then you've implicitly entered into a contract and they can demand the charge stated on the signs. (NB "charge" - not penalty.)

Heads up to people in Sussex. The road that divides Hove and Portslade is like this. It's called both Boundary Road and Station Road (depending on the side). And the parking restrictions are totally different.

In message snipped-for-privacy@perry.uk, Roland Perry snipped-for-privacy@perry.co.uk> writes

Indeed. My quibble was the term *parking*. I am in the vehicle and willing to move if necessary. Usually known as *waiting*.

I don't think that's the main problem, it is the poor quality of the databases that the GPS units use. I have two GPS units, one built into the car (2 years old but with a recently updated map) and one an older portable TomTom unit that I have also kept updated with the latest maps. On quite a few roads around there the two units indicate different speed limits, and on at least a few roads both units are wrong, at least according the signposts along the road, which I assume are always definitive.

If different cars have different brands of GPS unit relying on different erroneous databases, so some cars are legally doing 70 mph while others are limited to say 40 mph, there's quite a risk of accidents being caused by such database errors. Just as with driverless cars, I think the lawyers will make a lot of money.

Chancery Lane (London) is Westminster and Camden on the west side and the City of London on the east. Three different sets of parking restrictions out of hours.

The most common change to speed limits are "stealth" ones where they (eg) remove half a mile of 40mph road between two 30mph sections. This catches a lot of people out (as well as satnav databases I expect) who have been used to the middle section being 40mph all their lives.

However, the risk when it comes to speed limiters is that a car driving at 30mph will suddenly (and without warning from roadside signage) try to accelerate up to 40mph. But if the car in front is still limited to

If the road ahead is clear, then the car might accelerate to 40mph, so there's a risk of getting a ticket (if the driver is unobservant enough not to have noticed the surge in the absence of a 40 sign), but not of a collision. At the end of the invisible newly-30 streth, the car will suddenly reduce to 30mph. Once again, no risk of a collision (cars behind doing 40mph under GPS control will slow automatically and the rest because the driver knows to leave a gap).

Again, observant drivers of [outdated] GPS equipped cars will soon get the hang of the point on the road where this all kicks in. They might even work out why (miracles can happen!).

The other type of new-speed-limit is stepping down on the approach to built-up areas, so instead of going down from de-restricted to 30mph in one go, a few hundred yards of 40mph. These are usually signed fairly well, so shouldn't be a surprise to drivers.

In message snipped-for-privacy@marfordfarm.demon.co.uk>, at 19:13:05 on Sun, 17 Apr 2022, Tim Lamb snipped-for-privacy@marfordfarm.demon.co.uk> remarked:

But you shouldn't "wait" on private property if the owner doesn't want you to. Could I come and "wait" on your front drive while my passenger walked a hundred yards up the road and back to buy some fish and chips?

I promise they'll take less than 20mins, guv.

In message snipped-for-privacy@outlook.com, at

Sometimes the signage is ambiguous. At my station there's ANPR at the entrance/exit and lots of stuff about how to pay for parking.

However, they have four spaces near the ticket office marked on the tarmac "20 minutes only", and strictly speaking there's nothing on the signage which says one shouldn't pay the minimum fee (£1 for 1hr capped at £7.50 a day) and that these four bays are reserved for people who have paid, but only expect a short stay.

What I don't know (must go back and read the signs more closely) is if you can pay the £7.50 and then come and go all day. Of course the £1 isn't transferable (even if it applies) to the next person patronising those kiss-and-ride spaces. Not least because it wants your registration number.

Why would any ?limiter? do this? A cruise control system possibly but not a limiter.

The only way the car will ?suddenly? try to accelerate is if you?re driving In a particularly lead-footed manner and drive with your foot planted to the floor and rely totally on the limiter to control your speed. Ultimately, that?s under your control. It?s not the car?s fault if it accelerates suddenly when a speed limit changes.

Even modern cruise controls accelerate fairly gently. I used to have an old vacuum operated one that was quite fun to engage coming our of corners as it would bang the throttle full open but it was a very old bit of kit.

Tim

In message <myAMa+ snipped-for-privacy@perry.uk, Roland Perry snipped-for-privacy@perry.co.uk> writes

Indeed again. But is anyone entitled to fine me for so doing?

The private access splays at the entrance to my yard are regularly used to collect/drop off walking parties. So long as there is a driver in attendance, I don't see an issue. Not the same as your front drive I'll agree.

In message snipped-for-privacy@news.individual.net>, at

Because the driver will no doubt be in the habit of keeping his foot on the accelerator. Especially if he's peeved his car has slowed to 30mph on a road he supposed was 40mph.

What do you mean by "modern"? My 2006 design car has a cruise control (which I hardly ever use, there just aren't enough long straight roads) and if I engage it when travelling slower than its setting, the acceleration is at least as rapid (in fact feels more rapid) than if I were to floor the accelerator.

That?s called ?driver idiocy?. If a driver ends up ramming a slower car in front because they have their foot so firmly planted to the floor and can?t lift off in time they should surrender their driving licence.

All the cars we?ve had with CC in the last 10 years have accelerated up to the set speed below maximum acceleration possible.

Tim

There is only so much you can do before it's the drivers responsibility.

Personally I would happily offer anyone caught speeding the choice between careless driving ("I didn't know what the speed limit was officer ...") or reckless driving (" I did know what the speed limit was but broke it anyway. Officer ..."). There is no other interpretation. Especially when a great part of the speed awareness course is the use of observation to determine the speed limit.

Charged the battery overnight. 12.54V this morning, turned on the headlights (engine off) and after 5 seconds the battery showed 11.5V

Assuming you charged it adequately that does indeed sound like a f***ed battery. Fully charged, no load, should give at least 13.2V, and it should hold up at 12.5V for several minutes with the lights on.

Bill

Going to get a new battery before I next go dogging.

It's alright having tow-ropes and jump leads but some of the spectators get the wrong idea when you take them out the boot.

You remind me of a question I remember asking a couple of times in the old uk.transport NG (but never got an answer to it).

Is it possible to drive a motor vehicle safely, whether in an urban area or anywhere else, if the speedometer has failed? *

An extra dimension was posed to a retired traffic police inspector, as to whether a police driver would be able to safely drive the same car (if confiscated from a drunk driver, say) from incident location back to the police station.

Legally possible, or simply possible ?

Legally, I believe a car has to have a working speedometer. Although I presume there is some kind of test for reasonableness to allow a driver whose speedo packs up on the M1 to get to a repair.

In terms of the mere possible it would depend on the driver. I was taught to drive to never look at the speedo. But that's me. It seems that there are other drivers who need a speedo to tell them that 100mph down a back road might be too fast.

Looks like a cell down, or the charger is U/S and actually discharging the battery.

Is there some unknown heavy drain on the battery?