Adaptive Speed Limiters | 80mph on the Motorway!?

[@Feeshgmod]

I reckon its set to 80 so that if youre on the on ramp on a motorway you have a bit of flexibility if you needed to speed up for some reason, not that you should go over the speed limit to do that

[@YoNormski]

That was my thinking too,

[@Ultima2876]

My instructor said if it comes down to going above 70 or hitting a car, the police would understand you breaking the limit in that circumstance.

[@GodmanchesterGoblin]

In my experience, these systems just get it wrong sometimes, including reading signs on other vehicles.

[@vekien]

I think it's this, designed to do 80 in slip roads so you can speed up to get infront and slip in, usually you would slow down and slip behind but if there are 2-3 lorries it's not always possible.

[@rrp6405]

me too, would be dangerous limiting to 70 on a slip road. could cause all kinds of problems otherwise

[@jonnycraig183]

My wife had a car that use to read the road signs and it once read the km/h sign on back of a bus while on the motorway and put up 120 as the speed (which made us laugh)

[@darrylmac6150]

We use Km/h in Ireland and I'll never forget the day I was with a friend driving a new (to him) clio diesel home, and we realised we were going past cars with some haste. He nearly died when he read 120 Miles, not kmh 🤣🤣

[@johnb8956]

Are you sure it wasn’t 100?

[@johnkeepin7527]

I’ve seen that happen on my car - it can read signs on the back of a truck that look like a road speed limit sign sometimes. They are always metric, so it ends up with 90 or 100 (imperial) on screen! Something else that’s dodgy is ‘advance’ warning signs on certain M roads, like the M in S Wales - the kit thinks they are real, current ones, not advance ones, so it assumes you’re running too fast on passing them.

[@MrTaffynoel]

Happened to me being the 342 to Colchester.

[@damedusa5107]

@@johnb8956 why? He said the bus number. Why would it be 100 ?

[@studiosoftmorecambe6879]

We are breaking the law if we use a mobile phone whilst driving yet the law makes no mention of fiddling with all the distracting gizmos that are fitted as standard in most new cars these days. Many drivers are unable to concentrate on the basics of driving without all the distractions.

[@GodmanchesterGoblin]

True, especially when touch screens replace physical buttons, or when speech recognition is so flawed that you then have to look at and press some icon on the touch screen to prevent the car doing something stupid.

[@ShaimingLong]

@@GodmanchesterGoblin Ha yeah, I've seen that, a friend showing off the speech recognition on his new car, tried to turn to fan heating on and the car took it as toggle the ABS somehow so then he had to pull up to mess around with the touch screen settling to get it to do what he wanted.

[@GodmanchesterGoblin]

@@ShaimingLong I tend to limit the use of voice for such reasons. It's equally annoying when you ask it to phone someone in the UK, at it then phones the wrong person, possibly in another country at 3 in the morning... :)

[@rogerclarke1739]

None of

[@rogerclarke1739]

Soz. None of this helps the driver. The features remove the drivers need to be alert and aware of the road conditions. Dangerous I think.

[@pangolin83]

Don't worry about committing any offences Ashley, the police in this country have said that they don't investigate retrospective crimes

[@soutteruk1]

Thanks for the explanation, Boris👍!

[@cougar02000]

The police in this country don't investigate any crimes if they can find an excuse to get out of it.

[@cougar02000]

@Nicky L Oh it's all so true, a club I'm in had its club hut broken in to about two year ago for the second time and equipment stolen, the police didn't turn up for forensics and closed the case a couple of day later they couldn't be bothered. About twenty years ago, I witnessed a shop being ram raided at 2 o'clock in the morning when returning home from work, I called the police, they didn't turn up. About fifteen years ago, the club I'm in was broken in to for the first time and an expensive lawn mower and other equipment stolen, again the police didn't want to know. My experience of the British police is they are not fit for purpose and are a god sent for criminals.

[@PrinceAndrewFucksKids]

@@cougar02000 cops don't give a toss mate. My ex abused me and the police still treated her like the victim lmao.

[@PrinceAlhorian]

They don't investigate retrospective crimes... Yet...

[@SamBebbington]

The balls to say: “Have I committed an offence there? Yes, legally I have” Great video Ashley!

[@pangolin83]

It's okay, the police say they don't investigate retrospective crimes

[@namtabmai]

Can't believe I'm subscribed to such a hooligan.

[@R04drunner1]

Actually his speedometer is not calibrated so I belive that is not admissible in court. A registered 44 mph might be 40 mph actual. It's also below the Police prosecution guidelines (typically +10% +2 mph). While in theory a police officer can pull you in for going 1mph above the speed limit, in practice that just doesn't happen unless the copper has some other reason for pulling you over. So in theory Ashley could be arrested but in practice he won't. If anything, the Traffic Police will like him for promoting safe driving.

[@Mr.M1STER]

Expect a fine in the post shortly lol

[@lordnick1575]

I agree, although I guess Ashley did that with faith in the common sense of the police. If the police saw this they know it’s being done in good faith to teach other people how to use this technology safely.

[@jasonk7072]

The case for buying a car without all these electronics and touchscreens, looking after it and keeping it for as long as possible gets greater by the day.

[@dankshiz69]

Totally agreed, lately I got a taste of both extremes. My first and only car yet is 25 years old and I'm planning to keep it till 30, so I can register it as a historic vehicle. And also recently I had the chance to lease the new 4th gen Fabia for my mum. The diffence in the driving experience is out of this world. In my car I can perfectly focus on what is going on outside, simply there are no distractions in the interior apart from the analog dials and climate control. In the Fabia, you have a relatively big center display, loads of information in the cluster, lane keep assist which you have turn off every time you start up and god forbid if you forget. There's also cruise control, speed limiter and every now and then eco-driving tips appear on the drivers display. I found the car overall to be quite distracting which is exactly the opposite of what the modern cars should be fighting for.

[@Ultima2876]

Why? The vast majority of people’s average drive will be made significantly safer with these measures.

[@danpreston564]

@@dankshiz69 hey, you don’t need to use the limiters or cruise control. It’s your choice.

[@Ifyoudonttakeitucantfakeit]

for what possible reason? What made you sell your horse?

[@dndkillaztreble5317]

@@Ifyoudonttakeitucantfakeit flawed logic a horse dosent have a engine a 2007 golf without hardly any tech is just as efficient and effective as a Tesla getting me from A TO B wich is the only outcome I require from a car so no your comparison to a horse and carriage isn’t even comparable

[@retroonhisbikes]

As all things government they’ve got it wrong. Anti tailgating devices with auto braking would be a far better approach to road safety. Travelling on the motor ways i see gaps of 1 or 2 car lengths in groups of 4 to 5 cars, by the time car 5 has noticed car one has stopped he is already in the boot of car 30/40. Driving at 80 in fog that’s clever.

[@chromiumphotography5138]

I have an obstacle warning (forward facing) in my company vehicle. The only time in appears is on the motorway when other drivers pull into the gap I have left in front of me. How would an anti tailgating device work then - making me drop back again and again?

[@redtela]

Trucks have pretty good auto-brakes, shouldn't be too hard to modify that system to ensure minimum separation, and some cars have AEB already. I'd be OK with a warning buzzer, and some light brakes if I ignore the buzzer too long.

[@kevin-l7r7p]

I think just a tail gating alert built into cars would be a good thing. Lots of people don't tail gate because they want to go faster/get by, they do it because they're stupid. Also a lane hogging alert as well!

[@jasonk7072]

Education and effective enforcement would be a far better approach than introducing technology to stop people doing stupid things.

[@gavjlewis]

Well going forward tailgating as you call it will no longer exist. All the big players are working on systems so cars and lorries can draft "tailgate" as it's far more efficient. Between cameras, LiDAR and V2V real time info sharing. Imagine you had a 200mile range car on the motorway, but your journey is 250 miles. You could stop and top up. Or you could draft saving time, money and CO². It will be a while before it's rolled out to cars, but it's already being tested on lorries where the savings are greatest.

[@r390gt1lm]

I got a 17 year old car with no speed limit, no lane assist, no parking sensors, just the purest form of driving and I wouldnt want it any other way

[@Kylirr]

Based

[@r390gt1lm]

@Advanced Driving no, I have eyes. In fact, I have been asked by my neighbor to help him reverse his new Kia suv out of our culdesac, he had parking sensors, top down 3D reversing cameras, side view cameras and couldnt do it. All i needed was 1 wing mirror to reverse it all thew way out in 10 seconds. All this tech ruins peoples driving skills

[@Joshyg02]

@Advanced Driving you’re clearly not an ‘advanced’ driver if you require parking sensors to park a car

[@r390gt1lm]

@@Joshyg02 well said

[@hotondale]

Completely agree my car is 12 years old. I have had it for 6 years and i have never ever had any issues parking it. I wont buy anything newer as some of us enjoy driving i don't want some computer taking away my freedom.

[@stuartjohnston1086]

Like you say, not a perfect system. I've noticed problems where lower speed limit roads, cross via bridge, a higher limit road. For a moment the system thinks the limit has vastly reduced and tries to slow down sharply. Can also happen where a lower limit road is parallel to a higher limit. Also, for myself, lane keep assist does not work on our local roads. Many potholes and poor drainage means you are constantly fighting the system to preserve your tires, wheels and suspension. We have it permanently switched off in the wife's new corsa.

[@MK-1973]

What an interesting video - "we have to embrace technology but we can't rely on it" is a great line. What will motorways be like in future if most cars are limited to 70 - will it encourage a more relaxed style of driving?

[@andrewhill7613]

Adding another level of complexity to the complex task of driving which is for some people is already beyond their ability! Excellent video, not scared of pointing out the limitations. Every man needs to know the limitations of his car (and himself!)

[@ace_55581]

Every car I’ve had with a limiter fitted (although none that have automatic speed adjustment) all have the ability to be overridden by a decisive prod of the throttle. The traffic sign recognition software, which the limiter would use, isn’t perfect though. I’ve had my car reading the signs from adjacent roads, missing signs entirely and even reading the signs of the back of lorry trailers. Nothing beats being observant and not relying on these flawed systems.

[@johnkeepin7527]

A common problem. My car (a 2017 Yaris) has a “road sign assist” gadget, which uses it’s camera only - not sat nav data. No shortage of places where there are no speed signs at all (such as some motorway slip lanes off roundabouts), and lots of other locations where signs are poorly positioned, so they can’t be detected by the camera - just after a sharp turn, and often on account of vegetation being in the way. When that happens, you have to ignore it or run slow, like 40 on a 70 mph road! Instrument accuracy is another issue - all cars over display compared with the real value because of the standards, but on mine you can adjust the ‘warning’ setting in two steps (it changes the display colour when over the detected limit). Other problems are to do with what happens with variable speed limit (VSLI) signage, temporary roadworks, badly positioned signs (for lanes that one is not in, such as exit slip lanes from M roads), and weather factors - sometimes it can’t detect things in heavy rain, e.g. Then if map data is in use, there would be publication timing for map updates compared with road alterations. Essentially, the more complex it is, the more awkward the boundary is between the road design/maintenance organisation and the car manufacturers and it’s driver. In some situations, one could argue that some road works are incompatible and should not be done. Also, the one I have can only detect what one has only just passed, whereas in the real world one slows down on approach to it.

[@paulevans9307]

@@johnkeepin7527 A friend with a Prius (I think - some form of Toyota PHEV) has a similar problem. It loves to read a "This vehicle is limited to 62 mph" sticker on the back of minibus and decide the speed limit is 62 mph

[@Shoot231]

The issue is when government start to mandate these technologies into law

[@RomanHistoryFan476AD]

@@Shoot231 I could see the government forcing everyone to one day to be logged into a nation wide driving network through the car computers. And well if your someone the Gov does not like your car will not start or allow you to drive anywhere, and god forbid if it is self driving then the Car could drive you somewhere and well you end up in an "accident". Like some 1930s secret police stuff.

[@dakrontu]

On the M11 there have been 50 limit signs whose domain is unclear. They may have applied to exiting traffic, but the signs did not say that. Besides, slowing before exiting causes pile-ups behind. After the exit has been passed, the traffic, seeing no reason for the slow-down, picks up speed again, but there are no explicit de-restriction signs or end-of-roadworks signs or anything like that. So a speed-limiter would have a big problem with such lazy installation of temporary signs.

[@Daye04]

That's why I like adaptive cruise control more. As soon as you touch the accelerator or brake, you start overriding it.

[@ekhaat]

Emmm, brake doesn't override ACC, it cancels it.

[@Daye04]

@@ekhaat thanks for clarifying, just in case someone was at risk of dying because of my laziness while writing that comment

[@waerlogauk]

Where there is an urban road (30mph) parallel to a motorway I often find the GPS gets the wrong road. Currently, this only messes with the navigation but the speed limiter could also be set incorrectly, either high or low.

[@supremeleader9838]

that could be very dangerous.

[@tech4pros1]

insurance black boxes often suffer the same issue, and the box thinks you're doing 70 in a 30.

[@dakrontu]

I have seen signs on some roads saying 'Ignore GPS' or words to that effect. During the work on the A14 in Cambridgeshire over the past few years, using GPS was often useless. In one place it told me to keep right to exit the A14. Presumably, when the map was digitized, someone's pen slipped when digitizing the off-ramp, so that it initially crossed to the right of the road, before swinging left. Computerised systems are prone to gotchas like this.

[@redtela]

Counter point on the limiter detecting 80 on the slip-road... as we all know, lots of traffic on the motorway exceeds 70mph. I speculate that the manufacturers are aware of this, and designed the system to allow you to get going up the slip road & merge safely, then backing the limit down to 70 after you've merged. Rather than a fault, this is a system design choice - same as it making you slow down after the 50 sign... the car might not know that it's not safe to slow down before the sign (eg, someone close behind on the rear). The interesting question for me, is when it forces you to slow down, does it show brake lights?

[@gordon861]

Also, the internal database of where the limits are may be wrong and/or the sign locations may not accurately represent what is written in the Traffic Order that they used to produce the internal map. The Traffic Orders are normally written along the lines of XX metres from a boundary, and there is often some tolerances as to where the guys digging the holes actually place the signs. Add to this the fact that old maps are often used and older Traffic Orders will have had their distances measured in feet and been converted, there are a bunch of inaccuracies that creep in.

[@_.Madness._]

I tested this in my company van (Mercedes Sprinter) which has just a regular speed limiter and it does show brake lights when the speed limiter starts braking heavily (e.g. when you enter a steep downhill), but then as it maintains your speed with just light braking, it doesn't. We also have a few older vans (of the same make) and their speed limiter works differently and doesn't engage the brakes to slow you down, but instead just cuts power to the engine and alternatively (if you are still picking up speed) changes to a lower gear (then there's obviously no brake lights). So the answer depends on how this particular speed limiter works to reduce your speed.

[@dakrontu]

That 'system design choice' shows the hypocrisy of rules that are handled 'flexibly' by humans as the only realistic way of making progress or doing so safely. Humans fudge things without even thinking about it. But when you write software, all the fudges have to be thought through and encoded. Which means encoding stuff that breaks laws. How would you feel about writing such code? How would your company's lawyers and marketing people and legally responsible directors and certified engineers feel about it?

[@redtela]

@@dakrontu there's a lot of assumptions and false statements in your comment. The rules are the rules, there's no hypocrisy involved (unless you personally don't agree with a given speed limit). The system in the car doesn't automatically break the rules, but it allows a human operator to choose to. That's no different to my MK3 Mégane, set the speed limiter manually to whatever speed, put your foot flat on the floor, and the car willfully ignores the speed limiter. How would I feel, writing the code that encourages rules to be obeyed, but is flexible enough to allow a human operator the overall choice? I'm happy about it. YMMV.

[@redtela]

@@dakrontu full disclosure, I'm a software development manager / architect, but not in the automotive industry.

[@QuentinStephens]

80 mph / 130 kmh is the continental (France, Belgium, Netherlands, anyway) motorway speed limit. I'm guessing that the code for motorway entrances needs a little tweaking.

[@maartenc6099]

No. The speedlimit in the Netherlands on the motorway is 100km/h and after 19:00 hours it is 120 km/h.

[@jenniferwilson2846]

it sets it at 80 so you have an extra 10mph to help you emerge if you need it

[@CallumDavis_]

@@maartenc6099 no, it's 130

[@maartenc6099]

@@CallumDavis_ No it is not anymore. They chanced the law because of nitrogen crisis. Max speed is now as I mentioned. I know, because I am dutch.

[@CallumDavis_]

@@maartenc6099 19:00 - 6:00 is t 100, 120 of 130 afhankelijk van het stuk snelweg. Er zijn wel degelijk stukken waar je 130 mag

[@PPT75019]

If we get the option to turn this system off, I will do it every single time I get in the car, the same way I always disable the "lane keeping assist" feature and the adaptive cruise control. - Lane keeping assist pushes you towards danger sometimes. If it doesn't like the line I'm taking through a turn, it will push me in the wrong direction and then I have to correct it. Unsettling the car like this on a rainy day is pretty scary. - Adaptive cruise control : Slams on the brakes when someone cuts in front of me to make a late exit. Also, if the car in front is constanly changing speeds, your car will do the same instead of keeping to an average speed... - Automatic speed limit : I cannot be bothered to deal with the system misreading a situation and wrongfullt slow the car down. My driving is all about planning, if the car starts throwing surprises at me, I'm going to get pretty annoyed. The only "new" feature I find usefull is the the emergency braking, I believe it can really make a difference, but it also has its limitation and I have ended up stopping in the middle of the road for no reason once or twice. I never had a speeding ticket and I never rear-ended anyone, all it takes is to pay attention. When you're driving, you're driving and that's it.

[@DrWhosmate]

Unfortunately we are outsourcing personal responsibility to the government more and more these days, legislation and laws seem to be the answer for everything. Obviously the majority want this to happen so I am in a minority, i understand that, I just don't like the drive towards being automated by the state. Having all personal agency stripped in favour of bubble wrapping. I guess it is a sign I am getting old, nothing feels as free as it once did, there is always a bot, a camera, a wagging finger sitting at an invisible peripheral waiting to chastise and shame you and cover you with a soft blanket.

[@Daye04]

@@DrWhosmate well! When people aren't responsible enough to drive decently on their own, this is what happens 🤷🏼

[@micheals1992]

I generally drive 10 mph below the speed limit anyway... 50 on single carriage ways and 60 on the motorway and use the extra speed to 60 or 70 if there's a reason to do so. Its maybe down the the fact that the 60 limit roads I use are twisty with not many opportunities to exceed 50 without going to fast around tight bends but 55-60 on motorways is perfectly safe since you're generally traveling the same speed as the lorries.

[@DrWhosmate]

@@Daye04 Sure, it's just a shame that we are all forced into a sheep pen because of it. Like I said, I am the odd one out here, I don't think the government should be responsible for the decisions I make, I think I should be. I get it, I am out of date with today's world and maybe I am wrong, it just feels like everything is being sanitised to a point where, eventually, everyone will be the same automaton following their state mandated paths, all in line, all singing from the same hymn sheet, unrecognisable from each other. That spark of life and the unknown pushed to the margins because something bad might happen. Hey, whatever, I won't be around to see it so I guess it doesn't matter. 🙂

[@Daye04]

@@DrWhosmate exactly. And it's that kind of thinking that kills loads and loads of innocent people

[@R04drunner1]

Fascinating film, Ashley. Good to see things working (or not working!) in practice. You asked about the setup on our cars. My car does have an optional speed limiter function and it separately also has a speed limit adviser function which shows a visual indication of what the GPS and/or sign reader thinks is the national speed limit. It is usually right, but sometimes gets it wrong. For example: (1) There is a school nearby on a main 40 mph road where there is a part time 20 mph speed limit but only when the lights flash. Without fail, the system read the sign and thinks the speed limit drops to 20 mph regardless of whether or not the lights are flashing. If I had an adaptive speed limiter linked to the car, it would slow down to 20 mph. I would be obstructing traffic and / or could have somebody crashing into the back of me. (2) A road near me is a 60 mph limit up a steep hill but the speed limit signs are posted right at the junction coming out of a 40 mph sign. As a result, the speed limit adviser thinks the limit is only 40 mph... then after a mile it gives up and displays dashes "- - -". If there was an adaptive speed limiter linked to the adviser, I have no idea how it would cope with that. (3) I have driven down a 40 mph speed limit where the adviser thought the limit was 60 mph. No idea why. You also asked about what use we make of speed limiters. I generally don't use the speed limiter. One problem is, if I want to override the speed limiter (for example, when joining a motorway with traffic behind where I need to push on to a gap in lane 1 and can't really slow down without making life very dangerous for the drivers behind me) then I would need to go "pedal to the metal". At that point, the gearbox drops two cogs and the supercharger kicks in, resulting in a sudden jerk of excessive acceleration that can even cause the back tyres to scrabble for grip. Not good. I prefer to use personal judgement for keeping to the speed limits and to use acceleration sense to make my throttle inputs smooth when needed. Also the speed limiter only works on the throttle, so if I am going downhill the car will actually exceed the speed limit unless I am watchful and drop a gear or use the brakes. On hybrid or electric cars, that's not such an issue: the car simply uses regenerative braking to keep the speed at the target and also charge up the battery pack. In conclusion: I have dabbled with the speed limiter, encountered the above problems and decided only to use it sparingly. YMMV.

[@iggysfriend4431]

I have a 2021 Kia Sportage GT-Line S and it has speed limit warning and it's incredibly accurate and changes the dashboard speed limit within a few feet of passing a speed limit sign. I'm not sure if it's windscreen camera only or also GPS. Whatever it is, it's really good. The Sportage has the speed limit displayed on the instrument cluster and the infotainment map/sat nav screen.

[@dylandajhharwood5566]

12:45 The 'wind' sound was the Mk4 Golf's turbo on resurc. It'll be a 1.9 TDi engine.

[@Chrom35kull]

The MG ZS EV has a smart limiter (I use it in manual) which needs enabling every time you start the car in the infotainment. It also has a full throttle override (no kickdown detent so you have to be careful). In Sheffield a couple of side roads have 20mph signs badly pointed and when passing it warns me that I'm doing 30 in a 20 (when I'm not).

[@Popupkiller]

I dont have adaptive speed limiter, but I do have speed limit recognition. And I've had to turn off the warnings or gives because it somes picks up road signs on side streets that are awkwardly angled.

[@zaixai9441]

I think it's 80 for merging as it changed to 70 once you were in the lane of the motorway. Pretty good I think as when it's busy you sometimes need a little extra speed to merge.

[@johnnewman2472]

If it's busy you really should slow down not speed up!

[@DjDolHaus86]

@Lancashirelad Doing the lowest speed likely to be encountered in lane 1 sounds safer but it's more dangerous. The risk is not vehicles that you can see ahead of you (those you can adapt your merging speed to easily) but those coming from behind. If you are going faster than a lorry in your mirror (55+) when you merge then it is no risk of closing the gap because you are always pulling away from it and extending the gap but a car travelling at 70mph will close the gap to you really quickly if you start to merge at 55mph. While going slower normally increases your opportunity to react it has the opposite effect when merging. Obviously this isn't a one size fits all solution but for slipways with adequate visibility it is generally the safer strategy

[@Samm58]

Hey Ashley, I was wondering if you could do a video on adapting to driving a new car. I recently got a new car and immediately had to drive a 6 hour journey home in it and found it difficult to get used to the car immediately and had a few issues on journey. Have you got any methods for what to do before setting off in a car you are not used to, and any methods for transferring driving styles across different types of engines. Your experience in your new car would be helpful, thanks.

[@alexevans9379]

That would be a good video!

[@bp19870]

IAM state carrying out a cockpit drill would be the first thing to do. That way you can understand where all the controls are and get you're seating position and mirrors etc correct. Spend as long as you need to to understand the infotainment system and familiarise yourself with heating controls etc, and drive around a car park or open space to get a feel first off before committing to a long drive. I drive different cars all the time and unfortunately, it's just a case of getting used to it, but those procedures do help.

[@radishpea6615]

Do you really need someone to tell you to read the owners hand book or familiarise yourself with the controls before moving off? Nothing beats practice. What issues did you have? Transferring driving style will depend somewhat on what you are used to driving and what you drive now and experience. I drove a Vauxhall insignia recently, never driven one before but knew what button the electronic handbrake was just by experience of other cars. Also drove a Singer Gazelle some while ago, knew exactly what I was looking for when it came to the choke. Experience will help you go from car to car. I have to ask, would you describe yourself as a nervous, cautious driver? Are you enthusiastic about driving. I ask as I wonder if driving is easier for those that just get in a car and drive without worry than it is for those that get in a unfamiliar car and may be nervous.

[@DuskHorizon]

The main thing is to take the pressure off. Take the time to adjust to the new vehicle and build that time into your schedule. i.e. if you hire a car, add an hour for any hiring company delays so you don't start off at a disadvantage and add a food/toilet break close to the pick-up point so you have an opportunity to dial things in before taking fast roads. Yes, others can write this off as "common sense", but that includes failing to acknowledge that said common sense has been developed over months/years of driving.

[@darren25061965]

@@DuskHorizon Also bear in mind that "Commom Sense" isn`t that common nowadays.

[@ryboxer]

So this interuptive device that is not ready yet is going to become law before it works properly, this along with 'lane keep assist' are as safe as smart motorways!

[@tomstickland]

If someone cannot stay in their lane when driving then they need basic training.

[@dakrontu]

On the Cambridge Northern Bypass 2 years ago while the road was being worked on there was a place where 3 lanes all moved 1 lane to the right suddenly. The road markings so-indicated. But the OLD road markings were still visible too. If some sort of mandatory lane-keeping system were in use back then, there would have been daily write-offs of dozens of cars.

[@BennyLava84]

I had a VW Golf with adaptive cruise control and once, while on a dual carriageway, it was set. When it saw the brake lights of a car on an exit slip road, it decided to put my brakes on even though I was staying on the main carriageway and didn't need to slow down. That felt like a flaw in the system to be frank and probably a less safe response from the car. I can't remember exactly how I overrode it on that occasion but ever since, I've been sceptical of any adaptive systems.

[@tomsixsix]

I have a Golf with ACC. You just press the accelerator pedal if you want to override the cruise control. It's very smooth and I do it all of the time. The car was probably detecting the radar signature of the car exiting, it's no big deal as long as you're aware of what to do.

[@BennyLava84]

Thanks. Reinforces the point that these features should not be left to their own devices. You've got to keep concentrating in case you need to override

[@tomsixsix]

@@BennyLava84 Absolutely. However, the stress reduction from driving is worth it. I use ACC all the time on my drives, and especially so in traffic. I don't get stressed out at being in stop-start traffic any more knowing the car will do virtually all the work for me, I just supervise it and hold it in the lane.

[@DuskHorizon]

@@tomsixsix that may be down to driving style. I would be more stressed about the system giving random incorrect driving inputs than I would be relieved about it saving my bacon. It sounds like a very badly behaved passenger that is shouting warnings about the wrong times at the wrong times.

[@sonique7]

My Golf 7 has ACC and will do that when closing on another vehicle that is turning off your lane going a little slower. Caught me out when I first got it but you develop the habit of just squeezing the accelerator a tiny bit, not even enough to accelerate will do, it just needs to detect movement on the pedal for it to temporally disable the ACC. You get used to recognising these situations and it becomes second nature after a while.

[@harveycraig26]

These types of systems are good enough most of the time to lull you into a false sense of security. However, I think the truth is that they are fallible, and that you need to be always vigilant to errors. I have seen frequent instances in my own car when the Adaptive Cruise Control with Sign recognition suddenly changes speed, sometimes for obvious reasons like a misaligned speed restriction sign but sometimes for no obvious reason. I had one weird instance not long ago when, while on the motorway the system suddenly set itself to 110 mph and started to accelerate because there were no cars in front. Needless to say I disengaged it pretty quickly. It has not happened since.

[@jagmani-pace3545]

The Jaguar I-pace has had this system since launch in 2018. It is rare for the speed limit to be wrong. Occasionally it will pick up lower speed limits on urban roads where parallel service roads exist. The minimum limit is 10 mph which is helpful in car parks etc. I personally use this facility all the while as it is do easy to exceed the speed limit is such a quiet car. I wish it would also use this system when using the adaptive cruise control. I find on motorways I have to flip between adaptive cruise control and adaptive speed limit in order to comply with the lower limits such as road works.

[@whoareyouandwhatdoyouwant]

While I don't have an electric car, my Astra J with a limiter has the "override if you mat it" functionality, which it accompanies with an audible warning that you're accelerating past the limiter. Handy bit of kit.

[@robynrox]

I have a Nissan Leaf n-connecta from 2019 which has a manual limiter (you have to engage and adjust the speed on it yourself, even though it can recognise speed limit signs) and it has the same kick-down override feature that you report. I find it very useful for keeping to the speed limit. It also has a lane keep assist feature that I never use. The car also has adaptive cruise control and that works fine, but I mostly don't use it - I will use it on motorways if the traffic is light. It's not a version of the car that has propilot (Nissan's autopilot technology). It has imminent collision detection and automatic braking that occasionally cuts in, sometimes for no apparent reason; not enough to be a worry.

[@jamesgee3616]

I drive a Renault Zoe with manual speed limiter - it's been a subconscious thing to pretty much always have it turned on; handy with so many 30/40/50 changes and average speed zones near where I live. It works really well with regenerative braking to actually slow you down on downhills to keep you at the limit, without applying friction breaks. Also can exceed via a kick down. Although it's great, it shows you how many drivers feel the need to intimidate you driving at the limit; the biggest issue I find is feeling like you're somehow in the wrong for driving the speed limit, even when I know via gps speed I really am driving the speed limit.

[@ytdylxn1750]

I drive a 2016 Mazda 6 that has a speed limiter, you can override it by blipping the throttle and flooring it.

[@tratcliffe71]

@11:42 it went from 40mph to 70mph and then back down to 40. But i like the adaptive feature compared to standard speed limiters.

[@mattwoodford1820]

I don't have a speed limiter but I find cruise control really good for keeping me honest on longer journeys, especially motorways. I do find myself using it quite a bit off motorways as well for the same reason, especially long straight low speed limit roads where it would be easy to creep over. I do think a limiter would be handy away from motorways and dual carriageways. The Audi system also manages the gap in front slowing the car down to maintain a fixed distance. I think it must be set to about 2 feet as standard from what I've seen on the roads lol

[@ThatBusDriverKane]

In London we have Electric buses with Adaptive Speed Limiters but they only get data from GPS. But it lags behind If your going from a 20mph to a 30mph you are stuck doing 20mph for about 25 seconds after you pass the sign which causes other road users to attempt potentially dangerous overtakes. We don’t have the option to disable it either as it is hidden in a menu somewhere which only the Engineers have access to.

[@pappaheathu8214]

As a 28 year old with a modified car and a stereotypical heavy right foot, I love the idea of adaptive speed limiters, especially if they’re implemented like you said they should be, they’re on until you turn them off! More often than not I’m quite happy doing 30 but I know I’d do the limit a lot more frequently if I didn’t have to worry about how much I press the accelerator 😂

[@lockenessmotorsports818]

I think I break the speed limit every drive 😂😂 I drive to what's ahead sometimes 10 mph is too fast sometimes 80 on a nice clear sighted b road is fine

[@iallso1]

I rented a Tesla Model 3 over the weekend and was surprised to see that it recognised speed limit signs and even traffic cones and displayed them on the screen. I'm not sure if the vehicle I had was fitted with an adaptive speed limiter but after passing a speed limit if you set cruise it defaulted to the new speed limit, this included temporary speed limits through road works which I found impressive.

[@PedroConejo1939]

I've had speed limiters/cruise on my cars for the last 15 years at least. Cruise on the motorway/dual-carriageway, except in bad weather, heavy traffic, etc; limiter on other roads, particularly in city 30 zones in areas I'm not familiar with. No problems to report, but they're not adaptive or limit-recognising. That's still my job. I don't constantly fiddle with the limiter though. The two limits I tend to select for are 30 and 60, but occasionally where there's a reduced limit on a motorway. I match my limiter to what the GPS tells me is the actual speed, so 63 indicated is 60 mph true, etc.

[@richardlee4637]

Looking forward to using mine when it arrives (another story). However also heard if you have it in “B mode” it auto regen’s on a new speed limit slows it down to the correct speed and roundabouts etc, Did you have it on this ? Example 40 to 30. Enjoyed the video though, saves a lot of manual reading!!👍

[@Nutterbloke]

I was given an MG hire car, instructions from the hire company were not to disable any driver assist technologies. The adaptive speed limit read a 50 sign showing on the rear of a large restricted speed vehicle. The car slowed down in the outside lane of 70mph road, quite rapidly causing vehicle behind to break and beep. I moved in behind the HGV. I worked out how to disable it after that.

[@TranceElbow]

I have a new BMW 330e which has a speed limiter system, that is not automatic as I have to press the SET button to set the current speed limit. Generally I really like it and use it most of the time. I have noticed that I am suddenly holding up traffic. Cars in front get away from me and people behind tailgate as they want me to go faster. This is particularly noticeable in 30MPH limits. There is a private road where my wife works, which has a non-standard speed limit sign of 6mph. My car always misreads it and I've seen it read 20, 60 and even 80MPH.

[@bofor3948]

I use the limiter in my manual diesel (Eco model :-) 2.0L CMAX at speeds up to 50mph to assist with keeping in the speed limits but of course I have to change it myself. More suburban areas are now 20mph but although I can set that the car becomes asthmatic even in 1st or 2nd gear. As you press the throttle and hit 20 rather than just maintain 20 and the same revs it seems to slow, which makes driving uncomfortable. At 30mph and above it is fine. Where suitable I use cruise above 50mph. Ashley a QUESTION: As EVs do not have a manual gear box and by 2030 most instructors will probably have updated their vehicles to an EV, will all their students be restricted to driving an automatic vehicle once they pass in the school car? Has or will the auto restriction be scrapped? Many young drivers now, as I did in 1976 struggle with the purchase price and running costs and may find they cannot afford even an old EV. They may even wish to drive an older classic car which requires a manual rating. Will they still need to pass in an old, rattling, smokey, wheezing, gas guzzling, joy to drive manual geared car? The wife and I hope to change her car soon to an EV model and just use mine for the long runs.

[@TheGrinningSkull]

10:26 “because they want to queue for longer”, hilarious!

[@TheByard]

I have only ever driven one vehicle with a speed limiter and that's was in the 1980s, a Bedford TK 5 tonner with an enclosed vehicle carrier body, ex Bedford R&D department. It was locked on and I don't know what type of system it was, but nothing in the cab to cancel it. The system was set at 50 mph and I was driving on the M5 out of London to Reading, any slight incline and the truck slowed so impossible to keep at 50 mph and I was only lightly loaded with a VW beach buggy en route to a Bond film. Luckily for me I went back to the Range Rover trailer set. still limited to 50 mph by law, but with oomph to keep it there. I wonder how the system will work with road works limits being set up overnight. The next preventer must be the motorway lane change from far right to exit over the chevrons. Thanks for the presentation and safe driving.

[@NathanAvie]

I have the Golf Mk8 which seems to use a mix of GPS and road signs to decide on a limit when using this same feature, I have seen it read a junction number as a speed limit, not amazingly useful sometimes but when it happens right it's really a great assist when driving

[@toxigames]

I had a Satnav years ago which had a database of speed limits, they was one bit of motorway where if you were in lane 1 the GPS would drift and the satnav would plot you on a residential road which went parallel to the motorway and the speed would glow red saying 30mph. The driver assist element is useful but full control would be dangerous in some cases unless it had a time delay built-in.

[@scotdoc]

Love the adaptive speed limiter on my Volvo. More opportunity for eyes on the road, and less on the speedo!

[@CarolSteele]

It's nice to see that you are getting on board with EVs Ashley. I have been driving Kia e-Niros for 3 years now and they have kick down overrides over both the speed limiters and SCC (a variant of Adaptive Cruise Control). One thing you need to be aware of with some EVs which have recognition of speed signs is that sometimes if a vehicle has a speed limit sign on the back of it (eg HGVs and caravans), the onboard camera in the EV can pick up on these and reduce your speed if trying to overtake them. Another thing to mention (you mentioned that you are getting a Tesla) is that sometimes they exhibit 'Phantom braking' whereby the car will suddenly brake sharply for no apparent reason. This also occurs with my e-Niro as the front radar will pick up on a car coming round a corner towards you and breaks the beam of the radar.

[@robbgosset674]

I drive a 2013 leaf and mine had the detent /kickdown at the end if the accelerator that overrides the speed limiter and also disables eco mode so if you put the pedal all the way to the floor the car will accelerate at full whack despite whatever other settings there are. Great for pulling out onto busy roads but it did surprise the wife the first time she found it.

[@trueriver1950]

3:44 map based changes are a mixed blessing. It's great from when the council forgot to post a sign, or where the local scales have stolen it. It is not so good where a new limit is introduced and the car has not yet been updated. By relying on the system you might get our of the habit of watching the signs, and then miss a new change is speed limit

[@15bit62]

Possibly the biggest challenge with this tech is the road design and maintenance: Road signs will have to be appropriately placed and clear of obstruction, 2 things which i see done badly across many countries. The camera will also need to be able to read electronic signs, which my Tesla at least can't do. And the system will require an easy override for when it's got the wrong speed limit and you're being forced to do 30mph in a 50 limit. In the end though, if they can get everything set up so that it is 100% reliable, i'm not against these speed limiters. My experience in my Tesla suggests that is quite a few years away though.

[@GodmanchesterGoblin]

If your Tesla cannot read the electronic speed signs then that's not great. My 2014 VW has no issue with them. But as Ashley found, it also reads signs that it should not such as for side-roads and small signs on the backs of other vehicles.

[@15bit62]

@@GodmanchesterGoblin - It's the refresh rates of the signs here - they seem to be almost exactly the same as the camera, so the camera never actually "sees" the full sign. With a different sign design it would probably be ok.

[@johnkeepin7527]

And some roads have no limit signs at all - such as the M4 after junction 16 west, if you join it there. It's assumed that one knows the standard 70 mph value. The first one in that direction is the variable limit kit just north of Bristol.

[@GodmanchesterGoblin]

@@johnkeepin7527 In those circumstances the system should default to using speed limit data from the satnav database or similar. This is a necessity, since very many roads do not have speed limit signs, but may have NSL limits of 30, 50, 60, 70 depending on the class of road and the class of vehicle. That makes me wonder whether the car can be told that it's towing and whether it would then drop from 60 to 50 for single carriageways accordingly...?

[@danhaywood5017]

I use speed limiter in town in my e208. I find it easy to creep over the speed limit in electric cars.

[@petercotton89]

Impressive technology that will save lives in the future.

[@andyowens5494]

So now you have to observe the signs, traffic etc AND monitor the automation for WHEN (not if) it gets it wrong? I'd prefer to keep my concentration on driving, AND having the ability to choose an appropriate speed as necessary (admittedly the kickdown does give that option, but its a solution to a problem that otherwise doesn't exist). If this becomes mandatory, all I can see happening is people who are less analytical that in this clip will rely on it, and cause more problems. Its a step towards fully autonomous (which will be excellent, but isn't yet), but as with all automation (especially immature ones) it brings additional risks.

[@nowster]

Current model Honda Jazz. Had to turn the adaptive limiter off as it was picking up 20mph limits from side roads and braking unexpectedly. I now set the limiter manually.

[@PatrickBijvoet]

Whow, that's handy! On my Megane I can press Set again if the speedlimiter is on and the speed changes. But is does not work automatic. I only use the limiter in cities, else ACC, which sometimes I also use in cities.

[@carl160269]

Sign post recognition has it's issues, like people have said any markings on the rear of trucks can make it error, also picks up on 20 limit side streets as you pass them. I use the manual speed limiter often, when in slower areas it makes life easier if you don't have to check your speed every few seconds. I do find it quite humorous when set to 32/33 in a 30 zone you get a huge queue of traffic behind.

[@cmd2709]

Don’t know if your will spot this question, but here goes… my car has a auto “hand break” on a test would this suffice or would they still expect driver to manually put the handbreak on at light etc?

[@nclflyer8197]

Although not electric, the Astra K has the kickdown feature on the limiter and on the cruise control.

[@philhartley7551]

I've never seen 80 on my adaptive cruise control on my eTron and to be honest, the lane keep assist has never been a problem. My car also slows to hit the right speed at the sign.

[@Bin-The-L-Plates]

Another interesting video and highlights that the tech is good but not perfect and at the moment we’re a very long way from auto-pilot systems, especially in the UK that has so many signs and limit changes. I’m with you with LKA, and in my Hyundia Ioniq 38 kWh EV you have to switch it off every time I get in the car, and my learners really struggle with it on. I’ve also got Adaptive Cruise control, which I do use and get my learners to try it out, and the only issues they have is when the car increases the speed after following a slower than the limit vehicle who then turns off. This surge in power also happens exiting onto slip roads as well, so the systems need over riding by the driver to maintain safety. Only thing that seems to work really well is the standard speed limiter, you don’t have to worry about ‘speeding’ and you focus on other things.

[@UnstableVoltage]

The best one is when you pass a European lorry with its speed limiter stickers on the back, and your car thinks the speed limit is now 100 MPH. I've driven a few cars with speed limiters (none electric). My current car is a bit of a compromise to this; whenever there's a speed change, you are prompted to press a button on the steering wheel to accept or ignore it - this way, if the system does incorrectly read a sign, you're not forced to travel at that speed. Also, if the speed limit decreases, it doesn't slow you down to match - that's up to the driver.

[@johnmckay1423]

I'd be interested to see what it does with variable and temporary speed limits on motorways. The Tesla system improved massively when they added in use of cameras to detect speed limits (their map data in general is awful and it didn't think that 20mph speed limits were a thing), but on motorways it doesn't react to variable or temporary changes. It also occasionally picks up the speed limit for a road the motorway crosses on a bridge - I've had it slam on the brakes on a motorway and realise it thinks the speed limit is 30mph.

[@RJPick1]

VW ID.3 reacts to Motorway temporary speed restrictions whether on overhead gantries or on roadwork signs. Speed limit reading is generally pretty good but occasionally gets it wrong, usually setting it lower than it should.

[@grahamb701]

I like the speed limiter on my work vehicle. Our driving is monitored so it gives some peace of mind that I won't accidentally go too fast and get a growling.

[@duffman9]

Driving yesterday the car set it to 90. I think it was when overtaking a lorry on a motorway and it picked up the km speed limit stickers from Europe. I test drove an Enyaq with the same system as the Audi, I felt on one bit of urban dual carriage way I was overriding the auto limiter every few hundred yards. On a country road with villages it was brilliant.

[@cougar02000]

I use my speed limiter a lot in towns or stop start traffic, but it's sometimes a pain when I forget it's on and go into a higher speed limit, so the adaptive speed limiter may not be perfect, but it's certainly better than the one I have in my car as it wouldn't drive me crazy as mine sometimes does when I need to accelerate and can't until I realize it's still on and set for a lower speed.

[@MrJohnny3shoes]

Like sensible drivers, does it ignore lane hoggers that are going under the speed limit any of the overtaking lanes?

[@davidrumming4734]

Brilliant info……thanks! So my 2019 Honda has both manual speed limiter and ISL….speed sign recognition. But unlike the Audi, the 2019 Honda has the 1st gen system….it doesn’t double check a map in a database for speed limit….it’s only on speed signs. So reliability of the ISL is only about 50-60%….any mud on signs, overgrown trees, signs on a bend, all those get missed completely. Other differences: when entering a slower speed limit, the car takes away the power until I reach the lower limit + and sounds an alarm…I think with a graphic saying “apply brake”. And same going down hill…mine doesn’t apply the brakes to keep to the speed limit…just a warning. Btw, cruise, and speed limiter and completely separate on mine. I can’t have the speed limiter (manual or auto) on while on cruise control. Cruise, manual limiter, + auto limiter are all switched off by default on mine. I didn’t know wether the updated hondas have the updated system as on your Audi or not. I’m seeing on various news feeds that perm switched on auto speed limiters will be mandated for all new cars (regardless of petrol, diesel, electric or hybrid) in U.K. + EU in the very near future, as in later this year or 2023. Other… I have lane departure warning, but not assist….I don’t know what that feels like…maybe like offset tracking 😂 If we are to drive perm castrated cars, is there any point buying a more powerful model?

[@edd95gti85]

Mine is obviously not electric but i use the auto cruise control and speed limiter the same way this works, its just manual which is easy on the steering wheel.

[@argiebarge7955]

'because they want to queue for longer' gave me a chuckle

[@jensfallesen9557]

My A3 has what I believe is the same system as the Q4. When using the adaptive cruise control, if it knows from map data that I am approaching a lower speed limit, it will slow down so that once I reach the new speed limit, I am down to that speed. It works really well. On main roads and motorways it is great but most of the roads here in The New Forest, the map data is all over the place, jumping between 20, 30, 40 and 60 in an area that is all 40. So you can't really have the system on with the speed adaptation active. As you concluded, there is still work to do!

[@iallso1]

I generally use my adaptive cruise control rather than the speed limiter, I set the cruise to 4kmph above the posted speed limit, because even digital speedos read faster than what the car is travelling and 4kmph is the tolerance that the police give on speeding. Being adaptive the car judges the distance to the vehicle in front and maintains a safe gap for the speed we are travelling. The time where I set the speed limiter is where I have an extended distance between chargers and I want to limit my energy usage to maximise range. I would see it as advantageous if when the vehicle reached the speed limit change it adjusted automatically and if it recognised red lights and stop signs and other junctions and reacted accordingly. As was said further refinement is required before drivers can rely solely on autonomous driving.

[@robg521]

When things like this ‘assist’ they are a great asset. When things like ‘take over and control’ then you are totally in the hands of technology. Unfortunately the people in the government who make the rules believe that technology is the answer to everything which is a problem when it doesn’t live up to expectations.

[@mdog2501]

I believe the new predictive cruise control will change the speed of the car before you get to the new speed limit. It will also slow down for junctions and tight curves.

[@fredmercury1314]

I had a rental Passat with that lane assist nonsense. Damn thing tried to drive me straight into a roundabout. I wanted to take the first exit, and there was no traffic anywhere around so I didn't indicate. I'm literally turning the wheel and the damn car is fighting me like crazy and heading for the roundabout. Gave me the willies.

[@thescouselander5531]

Yes, lane keep assist is trying to kill me too. The best one so far was on a smart motorway where the end is the slip road is marked with a line but since the lane was open I wanted to go straight onto the hard shoulder/smart lane. The car had other ideas however and tried to follow the end of slip road line into the other lane steering me towards a HGV in the process.

[@PemboCycling]

Got a kia niro that just displays the speed limit, but doesn't limit. It regularly gets the limit wrong presumably by seeing signs on side roads and getting confused. I hope all implementations are better going forward or we'll see plenty of cars doing much lower speeds until their car sees the next sign

[@Keith_Butcher]

My 3 year old Mazda has both adaptive cruise control and a speed limiter that reads road signs and uses gps data. The speed limiter always offers you the new limit as you pass a sign. You have to click a button to confirm. This is good because it often picks up signs on side roads when on a faster road. I’ve had times when to car in front has slowed dramatically for no reason and I assume it’s a speed limiter getting it wrong It does mean that there is a delay of a few seconds after passing a sign before the change is enabled. Ok (ish) if you are going up but poor if you are going down. There is a section of road near me where they have recently moved where the zone starts and lowered the limit. The gps data doesn’t match the signs. Sometimes it reads the sign and lowers the limit. But then about a minute later the gps kicks in and offers the old higher limit. Other times it ignores the sign and offers the change where the signs used to be. So, not perfect. I’d say it’s semi-automatic. Don’t get me started on the mess it makes of overhead gantries when they keep changing every few seconds and don’t show when the reduced speed limit has ended and just switch them back to blank. I could be stuck at 40 for miles !

[@robbrown3925]

My 3 series G20 has this and you can link it with cruise control. Once it picked up 90 from something it read on a motorway and began accelerating. As there were speed cameras on the gantry, I panicked but managed to prod the right button to stop it. I should have simply braked to cancel cruise, but it threw me at the time.

[@i0am0random]

In my own car I have no trouble with lane discipline at all but my instructors car also has lane assist and I find I wobble, only a very a little amount but it's enough to make me as a learner hesitate a little more. My dad who's been a mechanic for 40 years now also agrees saying he believes lane assist is dangerous. As I'm used to my car without it's not so bad but imagine a new driver learning with lane assist getting a car without, I can see then wandering loads on the road

[@howardwatkins2229]

My Mercedes has speedtronic (not adaptive) which I use all the time. However if I set it to 30mph (and the speedo says 30mph) the flashing roadside speed signs shoe 28mph. How can I check my car's speed reading?

[@roxdude]

I know adaptive cruise on an automatic can work from zero mph only it sets at 20mph or 18 mph on my newish civic. It's the min speed you have to set 1st then you can move it up to desired speed and it will accelerate for you to that speed or to speed of car in front from a standstill.. cannot do it on a manual but seeing as all evs are auto. That's the best feature for me of acc.

[@fredsmith1970]

my Focus has speed limit sign recognition, and also an adaptive speed limiter. (can set to reduce speed or just annoy you) Never have it switched on, because it will pick up on signs in side streets in error.

[@cannontrodder]

My 2021 Golf read a local 30 sign as 80. I’m glad it treats that as advisory only.

[@bp19870]

First thing an Audi driver will do when they get in it. OFF, OFF, all safety features OFF! 😂

[@qasimmir7117]

Or any decent driver.🤷🏻‍♂️

[@_Steven_S]

Hopefully they make them all conveniently located buttons above/below the HVAC, and not 20 pages deep in to the settings 😁

[@inyobill]

In my experience, map speed limits are advisorial only, Posted limits often vary from what my navvie tells me it is. A side note that I'm interested in is will it be true or indicated? I assume indicated, which as far as I can tell is typically 5mph below true, I assume for liability issues.

[@tonypowell2165]

The lane assist on my new car (BMW) doesn't activate below about 40-45 mph, so the issue you mention about being able to move in/across lanes to avoid parked cars or cyclists is not a problem in town. Maybe different manufacturers are still working out the settings for these various aids? I hadn't thought about it as you described; that you need to choose to turn things off - I don't like the lane assist and mostly turn it off as I don't like getting surprised by the car fighting back if I do cross a line (safely, but without indicating) and had been getting frustrated with having to do it for each journey.

[@ekhaat]

I almost exclusively drive with limiter, so relaxing. Would have liked it to be adaptive, though, including adjusting to the speed of the car in front, it it is lower than my own speed, like ACC does. I drive a Hyundai Kona electric.

[@Yorkie-UK]

My Volvo XC40 has an adaptive limiter which generally is fine. The problem is if you use it as a kind of cruise control where you can just keep applying power and the car will adjust speed for you. This is fine if the speed limit is + or - 10mph but you still have to drive properly so if you are on a 60mph A road and you hit a village which is 30/40mph if you had not already started slowing down before the sign the car will auto brake very sharply catching you off guard. Intelligent motorways can catch you out too especially as the tend to go up and down by 20mph so if you are in a 60 zone then it changes to 40 then to 60, it can be a real pain. Overall though limiters are a great tool, for average speedcam zones, for areas you are not familiar with so you do not get caught by a fixed or mobile cameras etc. I drive a lot on all road types and my limiter is regularly engaged. If you have the limit set low and you need power to get out of a situation you just sharply accelerate and it will disengage allowing you get out of trouble, it works I have had to use a it a couple of times. It is a feature I check for just the same as cruise control and emergency brake assist. They are not the devil they are made out to be.

[@sonique7]

How is this going to work with variable speed limits? would there be a transponder in the gantry for the car to access the current limit or will it link into the Highways Agency computers via the database it accesses?

[@CraigNiel]

These are good systems but we need to be able to take control if needs be. An example would be you behind dawdling Derek on a 60mph country lane, Derek is doing his usual 40mph everywhere so you decide to overtake. At that moment Derek decides it's a good idea to speed up to 55mph (the fastest he's ever been) and you are stuck crawling past at 5mph more. In this situation it would be much safer to floor it, get up to 70mph get past and get back in. Yes technically you're breaking the speed limit of that road but it's the safest option. No matter how you plan an overtake things can, and do, go wrong sometimes because none of us are perfect.

[@peterreime3146]

This is why I prefer manual speedlimiters as the automatic ones are just too buggy to be safe (The main reason why I don't use the automatic cruise control in my VW is because it picks up the speedlimits on the side roads an exit roads and will on occasion try and slow the car down from 70 to 30). I also prefer the manual choice as I can set it to 60 or 65 on the motorway if I want to reduce fuel consumption.

[@hugothebear]

Mine has a speed limiter function…. I’ve tried it in various conditions and honestly it is quite liberating to remember and be reminded that speed limits are just that, a limit not a target. At 29 mph in town the only issue being that you will have a car right up behind you and an angry face in the rear view mirror…

[@liammaggs9418]

i reckon that 80 mistake was because the gps map data doesn’t have a speed limit set for the slip road. i’ve noticed this in apple maps, on most slip roads the developers haven’t set a speed limit at all, and it’s only when you merge onto the main carriageway that the 70mph limit is set. so the failure to adhere to NSL is probably just the maximum limit that the autobahn-driving germans set as the kind of ‘fail safe’ speed limit

[@mdcollins1984]

Does this adaptive speed limiter work in conjunction with cruise/adaptive cruise? In my car its limiter or cruise. As these features become more commonplace will they be separated so you can use both simultaneously? Also, in my C4 Picasso, to override the limiter, you have to take your foot right off the gas before stamping on it to activate the kick down. Is that standard? Or do some work if you just floor it from your current pedal position?

[@nigelsheridan6229]

Hi, I use speed limiter all the time, I find it very useful and better than cruise control. I, however hate lane control, it feels like you are being forced back into situations that you are trying to avoid.

[@mariuscheek]

I think when this is both mandatory and fitted to all cars it will really reduce accidents, but until then... Plus, is everyone would drive steadily, within the speed limits, we'd all get there quicker! I can remember a route I used to drive into West London from the West Country (Great West Road ~Chiswick, I think?) where the speed limit was 40 across 4-5 lanes of joining/exiting traffic, but if you were not at the general ambient speed of other traffic (like ~55) you would definitely, 100% be an unwitting cause of an accident. It was madness. Some years ago I remember the AA coming out with a statistic that the danger starts spiking when there is more than a 5mph difference between your speed and traffic in adjacent lanes. Plus, the number of times I've had to do a 'super-whizz' when joining a motorway, just to get up to speed with inside lane traffic (who are all driving too close together) so that I could more safely get into a slot... As I say, these gizmos will be great when all cars have them.

[@CED99]

European law is that its going to be automatically on and you have to turn it off. Also I've heard that manufacturers will have to report how often its turned off or broken.

[@peterwright9546]

How will it handle variable speed limits on smart motorways ,because it could be very costly if it dosnt slow down before the gantry alot of them are fitted with speed cameras .On motorways I use cruse control so I can set the speed long areas of average speed limit and so called smart motorways, around town I use speed limiters.

[@markwright3161]

The cut off curve (the smooth way it reaches the limit you comment on) is probably the reason for the 80 mph on the sliproad that others are suggesting is a deliberate choice, if that's the case, showing a flaw in the system if they have to implement that. With a 70 limit recognised by the system, that 'electric acceleration' you say is so great wouldn't be available at the point you need to merge. You'd be used to it accelerating immediately, so once you see your gap you choose your acceleration point relative to the that performance, but once you match yourself to the gap then accelerate to fit in before the next vehicle comes, that acceleration isn't available, and then you're either pulling in forcing the vehicle behind to brake, or need to stop before reaching the end of the sliproad, great options to have to choose from! When a car has a standard performance from factory, you only have to learn 1 level, but with this stuff you'll have to learn for every speed limit as well, and with electric that's also on top of how much it fades when the battery is running low, drivers will be forever getting caught out by not having enough power when the car should be capable of but isn't because of 'safety' tech limiting it. Having the override is all well and good, but would you advise anyone floor it in a car without this stuff when on a sliproad? You wouldn't, because that asks for all the car's power and puts your right foot as far as possible away from the brake pedal is circumstances change and you need to slow, great when the most time consuming part of the reaction time is the physical movement from accelerator to brake.

[@simmybear31]

I can't think of many innovations that haven't met with approbrium and comments about making drivers lazy. I believe this will work well in time and in 10 years or so we will never live without them. And yes I'm a volvo driver lol but laugh as much as you want Sweden has the lowest per billion miles road deaths in Europe and their most common car - a volvo lol 😊