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International road safety experts are calling for all vehicles to be fitted with speed warning devices, and drivers who exceed the speed limit may find their accelerators disabled by devices that are being considered in Australia.
According to the experts "Driving too fast causes 1.25 million road traffic deaths a year globally, and is a major contributor to the 6.9 per cent increase in deaths on Australian roads to 1275 in the year ending August 31."
The road safety experts called for all European vehicles to be fitted with Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) devices. These use speed sign recognition and satellite information to warn drivers with sounds or message if they exceed the limit.
The council launched a campaign on YouTube to build support for ISA, saying it had a huge potential to save lives.
Some devices, which have already been integrated into some new models of Ford cars, have an override function that can stop speeding drivers from using the accelerator until they return to the speed limit.
Anyone want this fitted to their car? I can see problems...
(Score: 5, Informative) by GungnirSniper on Tuesday October 04 2016, @07:34AM
Driving too fast isn't the problem, but merely a catch-all for "we're not sure but he was moving". There's no category for "didn't use turn signals" or "cow path roads with curves and blind spots". Nor is there a "poor reflexes" or "elderly driver who shouldn't be on the roads". Everything that moves more than 30 MPH is a speeding accident to these idiots.
People are going to die, and losing only 1300 a year in a large country like Australia shouldn't be the cause for these safety fascists to cause more misery to freedom loving people. The war on masculinity continues.
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(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 04 2016, @08:19AM
Not sure what this has to do with masculinity, but I do agree that people seem terrified of unlikely threats. It's like people place almost zero value on freedom subscribe to the 'If It Saves Just One' ideology.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by TheRaven on Tuesday October 04 2016, @08:31AM
Driving too fast isn't the problem
Driving too fast may not be the cause of the accident, but it's the cause of the damage that the accident causes. The difference in injuries between a 30mph collision with a pedestrian and a 35 mph collision are huge. Remember, e = mv^2 - you don't need to change v much to transmit a lot more energy to the thing that you hit.
People are going to die, and losing only 1300 a year in a large country like Australia shouldn't be the cause for these safety fascists to cause more misery to freedom loving people.
Enforcing the law is fascist now? Currently, speed limits are one of the most selectively enforced laws and a system where most people commit crimes but only certain ones are punished is a lot closer to fascism than one where everyone is punished for violations. If everyone is forced to obey speed limits, then it's a lot more likely that they'll actually fix the ones that are too low.
The war on masculinity continues.
I think you're confusing masculinity with the faux masculinity of people who feel the need to overcompensate for something. If you need to drive fast to feel like a man, then that says a lot about you.
sudo mod me up
(Score: 4, Touché) by maxwell demon on Tuesday October 04 2016, @08:48AM
Better remember E=mv²/2. Especially if you ever have to take a physics exam. ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 04 2016, @12:01PM
In my car, E = m gamma
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday October 04 2016, @01:29PM
1 / n = sin x
Now cancel the 'n' on both sides:
1 = six
or:
1 = 6
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 4, Funny) by FatPhil on Tuesday October 04 2016, @02:27PM
sin / cos = tan
in / co = tan
i / co = ta
i = taco
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday October 04 2016, @08:39PM
sideways 5 [memecdn.com]
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 3, Informative) by MostCynical on Tuesday October 04 2016, @09:10AM
it varies by state. Victoria has a 0km/h threshold (ie, fixed and mobile speed cameras, police with radar guns and red light safety cameras all book you if you are even 0.5km/h over the limit - even though the Australia Road Rules allow your speedometer to be up to 10% out - these days, the 10% had better be over reading...)
We already have 'speed limiters', which are supposed to stop trucks going over 100km/h... but seem to fail, alot.
http://www.armstronglegal.com.au/traffic-law/heavy-vehicle/speed-limiters [armstronglegal.com.au]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 4, Insightful) by quintessence on Tuesday October 04 2016, @09:20AM
speed limits are one of the most selectively enforced laws and a system where most people commit crimes but only certain ones are punished is a lot closer to fascism than one where everyone is punished for violations.
Because the law itself is "vague". Driving the speed limit during rush hour? You're impeding the flow of traffic. Planting yourself in the left hand lane without passing? In my state, improper lane usage.
Anyone with a modicum of sensibility realizes traffic laws (edit: most laws) are contextual (such as exceeding the speed limit to allow for passage of an emergency vehicle, not driving the minimum speed limit when condition are bad, etc.), but you always have law and order types who insist on following the letter of the law without understanding the why (usually safety or ticket revenue) of the law.
Not to mention there is no reason to just stop there when we can have perfect enforcement of all laws with just some minor modifications to your civil rights (embedded detectors for any illegal substances, 24/7 CCTV everywhere, etc).
This was brought up during the 70s. It was a stupid idea then, and it's a stupid idea now, but I guess every generation needs the opportunity to rediscover the depths of their stupidity.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by GungnirSniper on Tuesday October 04 2016, @09:34AM
It's an anti-male movement because males get more speeding tickets, or get in school fights, or whatever we're having zero-tolerance for today.
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(Score: 3, Touché) by TheRaven on Tuesday October 04 2016, @10:21AM
sudo mod me up
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 04 2016, @11:17AM
Female detected.
(Score: 2) by Hawkwind on Tuesday October 04 2016, @05:18PM
Possibly, always. CONSTANT VIGILANCE
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tfried on Tuesday October 04 2016, @09:40AM
The war on masculinity continues.
Speeding as an expression of masculinity? You could not have picked a better example to illustrate why it is an absolute necessity to have clear and simple traffic rules, and to enforce them.
You are right that speeding may be somewhat over-represented in accident statistics. That's simply because it is one of very few things that can often be established, objectively, after an accident (contrary to bad signalling, for example). But it totally does not make it "not the problem". It's simply one of the few significant risk factors that we can control, proactively. (And no, I'm not talking about those questionable devices mentioned in the article, but good old speed monitoring.)
And if you do want to talk about "liberty", then tell me again, what you want to do about those who are somewhat elderly, or have below average reflexes? Making sure that everybody drives mostly well behaved and predictable, is simply the way to make sure that these groups, too, can participate in traffic without posing excessive risks to themselves and others.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 04 2016, @03:23PM
typical socialist scum. penalize everybody b/c some people wouldn't make the cut if people were free instead of letting nature take it's course. It's so much safer now that old people have no disincentive for getting out on the highway going 40 mph! Roads and cars aren't for everybody! cars are powerful machines that can kill. Roads are like a racing video game. if you can't haul ass like a madman you have no business driving! :)