On Monday (4th March,) Volvo announced plans to limit all cars manufactured from 2020 onwards to a max speed of 112mph. This is part of their plans to bring the number of people who die in a Volvo car to zero over the next coming years.
In a press release by the company they teased the launch of Vision 2020, “one of the most ambitious safety visions in the automotive industry.”
How will this work?
Most other manufacturers are using an Intelligent Speed Assistant (ISA), which earlier this year was revealed as near finalised that it would be mandatory for all new cars on the road from 2021. The European Transport Safety Council proposed the changes which were approved by a key group of MEPs and is hoped to come into force for all cars with the 21 plate and higher.
ISA will limit the speed of the car depending on the area the car is. It uses GPS and traffic sign recognition to limit and adjust the max speed. Drivers are able to override the max speed limit by pushing hard on the throttle, in case of overtaking cars or need to move out of the way sharply.
However, Volvo has gone a step further and will electronically limit the car from going no faster than 112 mph, or 180kph. For the Volvo XC90, the flagship SUV, this will reduce the top speed by 20mph, and many of the other new cars will have their top speeds chopped by 18mph.
Zero deaths by 2020?
Volvo’s Vision 2020 is a definite jump in the car safety world. To suddenly go from quite basic systems not even under ten years ago to there now being plans to stop deaths in Volvo cars completely seems a huge leap. Volvo has often been a leader in the safety industry with its calls for a universal safety standard in autonomous vehicles.
However, nearly 1.25 million people a year die in a motor vehicle. Can this ambitious strategy really come to fruition? Volvo has admitted that on technology alone they cannot bring the number of deaths to zero. In light of this, they want to work to change user behaviour as well as improving their technological capabilities.
“Volvo is a leader in safety: we always have been, and we always will be,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo. “Because of our research, we know where the problem areas are when it comes to ending serious injuries and fatalities in our cars. And while a speed limitation is not a cure-all, it’s worth doing if we can even save one life.”
“We want to start a conversation about whether car makers have the right or maybe even an obligation to install technology in cars that changes their driver´s behaviour, to tackle things like speeding, intoxication or distraction,” said Mr Samuelsson. “We don’t have a firm answer to this question, but believe we should take leadership in the discussion and be a pioneer.”
People simply do not recognise the danger involved in speed, says Jan Ivarsson following on from Mr Samuelsson’s statement, one of Volvo Cars’ leading safety experts.
“As humans, we all understand the dangers with snakes, spiders and heights. With speeds, not so much,” said Mr Ivarsson. “People often drive too fast in a given traffic situation and have poor speed adaption in relation to that traffic situation and their own capabilities as a driver. We need to support better behaviour and help people realise and understand that speeding is dangerous.”
Other safety issues
In the research that Volvo did, they found that there were three gaps in their safety procedures. One being speeding, the other two intoxication and distracted driving. Both of these relate highly to user behaviour over the car, but at a special safety event on March 20th, they plan to reveal solutions for combating these two issues.
With these safety issues also comes the question of intrusiveness. As said earlier do carmakers “have the right or maybe even an obligation to install technology in cars that change their driver’s behaviour?” Is this something that we as people, want to have controlling our lives?
Is Big Brother kicking in or is it ok to have advanced safety features that can change our driving behaviour? The question here must be posed of if we all had perfect driving, these safety features wouldn’t be needed, and we would be able to drive without autonomy taking over.
However, unless a drastic change happens anytime soon, it seems unlikely that people will stop speeding anytime soon. In 2017, 203 people died in a road traffic collision as a direct result of exceeding the speed limit. Every year since 2013, over 200 people have died because of exceeding the speed limit. This anti-speeding advert from New Zealand shows the truly devastating consequences speeding has, we’d recommend watching it, but we will place a warning as it is quite triggering for those who may have been involved in such an incident before.
What do you think about Volvo’s plans? Where does technology stop being able to protect us? Let us know below
How many people are killed or injured by drivers exceeding 112 mph? Pathetic!
Brilliant, does this mean that the Police won’t be able to catch me!
That was my thought when I saw it as wel
My car has Intelligent Speed Assistant but I had to turn it off because of problems caused by lack of speed limit signs. For exmple, I go into a car park, limit 5mph, I leave onto a road with a 30 limit but there is no sign immediately outside the car park so my car thinks the limit is still 5mph. I do not have GPS so tht might help but I feel there needs to be lot more research before this idea works well enough for most people.
Already got ISA…she sits next to me.
And I thought it was just mine, in the car I call her Hyacinth she is not amused.
Two thoughts:
– even if you buy a Volvo what’s to stop someone else from driving into you and causing death? Zero deaths seems an unrealistic goal.
– Many fatal accidents occur at speeds lower than 112mph, capping the speed may prevent some fatalities but certainly not all.
Many deaths occur despite air bags, so let’s not bother fitting them.
Maybe we’d be better fitting spikes to the steering wheel instead… might concentrate the minds of some of the idiots out there.
There’s a lot in that, but on balance, cars getting safer HAS brought fatalities and serious injuries down.
With you there, Dave. I learned to drive in a plumber’s van as an apprentice: bald tyres, drum brakes down to rivets, trafficators (!), shot shock absorbers, pathetic handbrake, no screenwash, inches of slack in the steering box, terrible lights, no seatbelts. And yes, it was street legal in 1967 — tested every year, never got a failure. Learned how to control it under all conditions, never able to rely on any of it working properly.
Anybody who learned to drive in the last 15 years thinks tyres never skid because they are magic, and nothing will every go wrong, and if they hit something the car will cocoon them and they will step out to applause. (Pity about the pedestrians, though.) They treat it like dodgems.
I never had an accident claim in 52 years, and I covered around 1.4 million miles, mostly rather fast. Although It’s not an A35 van any more — settled on big Volvo estates about 40 years back.
Absolutely ridiculous idea. Same as speed cameras. Neither really have the apparent intended effect. Nobody speeds at 113 mph past a school or down a high street, just as hardly any speed cameras are sited in such places. Not only big brother taking over but big clueless brother !
This has already had the intended effect – it gives Volvo a warm glow following from the favourable publicity after the press statement. Nothing to do with safety: how many people are killed by a driver going faster than 112 mph?
Good reason for not buying a Volvo, if this is the level of thinking doing into the car design.
It’s clear from the report that it’s the occupants being protected, not other road users. Although 112 is hardly appropriate in a country with a blanket 70 limit.
Quite. “203 people died in a road traffic collision as a direct result of exceeding the speed limit” does that mean that the collision was caused by the speed, what was the speed limit in force on each occasion, and was the death of an occupant of the car, or a bystander? Finally, was each one TWOC or owner-driven?
203 people only died because of de/acceleration, not speed
You obviously haven’t read the full article. Many cars are already electronically restricted, any vehicle for the German Market has to be restricted to 155Mph and other countries are bringing in an electronic limit as well.
However the main point is that through the use of road sign recognition, GPS fixing and continuous updates of on board mapping the vehicles will be restricted to the actual speed limits. You will be able to override the system by harsh accelerator use but this will all be logged on the Black box they are going to be installing on all vehicles. This is so in case of an incident the data can be downloaded by the police and insurance industry to assist in incident investigation.
The system will also know when trailer electrics are plugged in and alter the maximum speed of the vehicle
this really is big brother watching us ,think I will give up car owner ship up altogether save fortune in taxes and travel by train or fly ,,let’s all do that government will be bankrupt with in weeks
The UK one of the lowest rates in the world with some of the most congested roads.
In 1926 there were 4886 deaths, 1966 7985, 2018 1792 of which 787 were car related yet vehicles have have got 30 or 40% faster and there are 10 times more vehicles on the road
How do Volvo intend to stop their cars being hit by other vehicles and killing the occupants? Stop selling cars?
112 MPH is almost impossible to achieve on most roads in most condition
Only 5% of accidents are caused by excessive speed, this includes those below 70mph, 95% are caused by driver error.
UK cars should be limited to 80 mph maximum speed, any car which has the function on the car disabled to alow it to go faster should be crushed, police lust caught a car doing 158 mph on a 2 lane motorway near where \i live, another in next county just caught at 151 mph what would happen to the others if they were hit by these idiots. If you want to drive faster move to a country that allows higher speeds, Uk needs safer drivers.
You really have fallen for the “speed kills” bullsh1t haven’t you. As said above, excessive speed is only a factor in 5% of accidents. It’s not speed that’s the major problem. The thing that needs to be addressed is driving standards. IMO the minimum standard for getting a driving licence is the current advanced driving test. i.e .get all the people that can’t drive off the road.
The 5% that you refer to are those exceeding the speed limit and causing deaths.
Another 20% of the deaths caused on UK roads are caused by inappropriate speed for the conditions/area. 60Mph maybe the limit for a single carriageway NSL (National Speed Limit) but so many see it as a target and plenty still think any NSL road is actually a 70MPH!
As stated in the article the speed limiter is just one measure being brought in, remember it is an intelligent system that uses GPS and traffic sign recognition so it will actually limit you to the limit you are in with an override available if you really need it.
They are also working on what is the major killer in vehicle at the moment, distraction. They are not going to be able to remove all distractions but major ones such as mobile phones, tablets, computers, etcetera can be blocked from operation while the vehicle is in motion unless connected by Bluetooth for basics such as phone calls or navigation while blocking all other apps such as texts, WhatsApp, Facebook, emails, etcetera. There is nothing that important that can’t wait for a SAFE place to stop.
Then there is the problem of driving under the influence of drink or drugs, there was a system years ago but it was not overly reliable and prevented sober drivers from driving while allowing drunken drivers out on the road. With the advanced systems we have nowadays hopefully this can be avoided.
So speed is not the main cause of deaths on our roads but you have to look at it along with the other safety features being introduced by Volvo that will hopefully become industry standards on all vehicles.
How does a speed limiter help when there is black ice on a 70MPH dual carriageway? How does a speed limiter help when a 44 ton driver on his mobile ploughs into your stationary fiat 500.
True, but just because you can identify certain situations where the technology doesn’t help it doesn’t mean the technology is of no use at all.
We have become obsessed with technology, and are told it can solve all our problems – 30 years ago we were told there would be paperless offices – There is more paper circulating than ever.
The highest proportion of road deaths occur in young people between the ages of 15-25, the very people who embrace the technology, but have least respect for the law.
Limiters on truck cause a massive problem with vehicles nose to tail travelling up the motorway, if one with a 1/2 mph advantage decides to overtake, it can be 10 or 12 miles up the road before it reaches the front of the queue and pulls in causing a tail back of several miles.
Technology for technology’s sake has no place, and is of no value
I do agree with you that all drivers should have to take the Advanced Drivers Assessment though. The easiest way to implement this would be to have a requirement to have taken the assessment in the year leading up to your 10 yearly licence renewal. This would ensure we had a continuous assessment of driving standards.
New drivers should also have to do the PassPlus in the 2nd year of driving to show they have improved and learnt from their real world driving. Also P Plates should be a legal requirement until they have done the PassPlus.
Yeah and I know a dvsa instructor who’ll willingly give you pass plus certificate for £50.
Waste of time.
that’s why Pass Plus has fallen out of favour by insurance companies, they would far rather you had a dash cam fitted than consider your advanced driving qualifications
Have you ever heard of anyone being killed by a stationary car? In appropriate speed for the road conditions kills, and this is down to driver error, Limiting a vehicle to any speed will not stop this.
Utter BS. How many people did this Dangerous driver kill? Speed is not always dangerous, we need less distractions in vehicles, and better trained drivers. There are times when it’s not safe to do 30mph in a 30 zone, and when it’s perfectly safe to exceed motorway speed limits. Motorway speed limits were “temporarily” imposed in 1965 for cars designed 50+ years ago.
Yes, that’ll fix everything, because nobody will be able to kill anyone in a car that can only do 80…
80 mph will have a tendency to kill a few people too. Especially if in a built up area when it is foggy! What next, bring back the man with a red flag? That may cut unemployed figures initially but I imagine it could be open to abuse by modern slavery! Education is the answer. I considered that when I took driving lessons I was being taught how to pass the driving test and ever since then I have been learning to drive. It is a constant process. When I first took to the road as a cyclist I was told to treat everyone on the road as a total idiot who will try to kill you. I still do this and believe that is why I am still alive. Nanny state can stick this one where the sun doesn’t shine. As for Volvo, I was about to visit my local dealer to order a new XC90. I’m not going to do that, I’ll get another Merecedes before this ridiculous rule is enforced as they limit their vehicles to 155 mph, well my current one is.
Well that pathetic hopefully we do the same as our northern eu neighbours and increase thevspeed limit on motorway to above 80mph.
If you cannot handle a car at above 80 mph you should not be driving.
The day you have tomout run someone trying to harm you and you cannot go above 80 will be the day u know your idea is stupid.
It been proven that lower speeds cause driver fatigue. This was domonstated on the m6 during 16 miles of enforced 50mph . The accident rate more than doubled. Speed does not kill bad drivers kill.
Better driver training stricter testing and advanced driving should all be done.
If every road were dead straight your argument may have some validity but – excessive speed into a corner, roundabout, tree, back of another vehicle – I could go on; is what kills people.
My old V70could do 130mph and I once had it up to that ( speedo reading) then a twat pulled out in front of me WITHOUT INDICATING, thankfully the brakes are exceptional in modern cars, but that experience stopped me from doing it again.
If there was anyone in front of you that could’ve moved in front of you, indicating or not, it probably wasn’t safe to do 130mph
People often pull this one out… “doesn’t matter he gone trough red, without indicating, on the phone whilst on influence of drugs – the problem is you speeding”. This is just bad attitude and generally does not help. The reason why unlimited speed work in Germany and would never work here is exactly that – people take care when driving, follow best practice, follow the rules and then they can benefit of being able to drive fast. This is because majority of the drivers acts reasonably on the road and can be expected to follow the rules. In UK almost any speeds is unsafe, because Brits are just too relaxed, don’t check mirrors, don’t indicate are too distracted etc. Speeding itself is not the fault and the fault is not always on speeding driver.
You clearly have not driven much in Germany. The autobahn system is predominantly speed restricted, there are some that are unlimited but it is a small proportion. German drivers of fast and powerful cars, in the main, are amongst the most aggressive drivers in Europe and will quite happily tailgate 1 meter behind you flashing and indicating for you to get out of the way whilst driving at 130 kph. That’s safe, isn’t it?
And you expect the driver of another vehicle to know some idiot is travelling at 130mph – Cars going in the same direction are coming at you at 60 or 70 mph.
That’s just bad driving sod all to do with speed .. remember 50% of the population are thick ( by definition).. of the 50% a large % are selfish, many just don’t are ( use the mobile anyway) etc .. it is humans that are the issue .. speed merely worsens the consequences of stupidity and selfishness as described by you
Speed is not not the big killer peoples not using there judgement correctly..
I have driven for year on the German motorways at speeds of above 100 mph where
Where its been safe to do so . The biggest danger has been drives driving to slowly.
Recently in the uk there was a near pile up due to a driver not going above 40 mph thankfully the police removed the silly old sod off the road.
People traveling 20 mph below the limit on a near clear motorway are the problem.
Speeding does not kill poor choices kill
Great theory but 112mph is well over the national limit in most countries, so is unlikely to have the desired impact.
Most deaths are caused by those driving too fast for the conditions, regardless of the limit!
Too many don’t understand that the speed limit set is the ‘maximum under perfect conditions’ (weather, visibility, amount of traffic …); it’s not a target or a ‘right’. Until that’s accepted, nothing will change and limiting a car’s maximum speed will just be a marketing ploy.
Limits should be set as you have described but with ever lower limits being imposed, I don’t think that is still the case. A dual cariageway that I frequently use was default 70mph but after the last Labour government instructed councils to review their limits this changed to 50mph. I spoke to the council officer concerned who said 60mph was also offered to councilors & that their reasons for choosing 50mph included that it was the only 70mph stretch of road in their borough [Poole in Dorset] & that changing from 60 to 50 that applied elsewhere would be difficult for drivers to deal with. Essentially concillors are not experts in what an appropriate maximum speed should be & hence with a push from a safety minded Labour government, they reduced the speed limit below what was & continues to be safe in perfect conditions.
Similar things have happened on a few of my local roads. 60 dropped to 50, 50 to 40. Some dual carriageway dropped to 50, and some others downgraded to standard two way traffic with a 60 limit. One could argue in that particular instance, the road was safer at the higher limit because the traffic was segregated by a crash barrier, so I would say it was the wrong decision.
Isn’t it crazy that the likes of dual carriageway speed limits are being reduced to 50mph and even 40mph, yet you can drive on B roads at 60mph!
Back in the days of the GPO telephones they had almost 250,000 vehicles. I recall a safety magazine stating that the ‘average’ crash happened at 28mph in perfect conditions!
If your heads in the oven & your feet are in the fridge, on average you’ll be at a comfortable temperature!
John I can remember driving one of those vehicles, it was a wagon that towed a cable trailer, it had vacuum assisted brakes, no such thing as power steering, and as for heating? I was issued with a pair of leather driving gloves, and when driving it my mind didn’t wander as driving “the beast” took all my concentration, and much could be said for some cars then, in short, cars are too comfortable which makes speed can creep up too easily and before you notice, your speeding.
George Orwell was right in his prediction of total control of the population by Big Brother, just his prediction of 1984 was a bit premature. Soon there will be no point in living and doing what you want to do since every aspect of our lives will be controlled. No enjoyment, simply dreary routine monotity. Of course eventual overpopulation will ulitmately mean limiting every individuals lifespan to a pre-determined age at which termination will be dictated.
Well said. I’m sick of the obsession with safety over freedom and the right to make one’s own mistakes. And before anyone pipes up with “so people should be killed in road accidents so that you’re free to drive like you’re on a racetrack?”, we’re talking these days about a tiny proportion of the population who are seriously injured or killed on the roads. If the price to save those few unfortunate people is that we all sacrifice our freedom, then I’m absolutely against that. It’s like closing down all public places so that terrorists don’t have a chance to hurt anyone.
You may change your tune if an innocent loved one of yours is killed??
Ordinarily I would say that anything which limits a driver’s options for safely escaping a perilous situation is to be decried. However I caught a segment on Top Gear which featured a new Porsche 911 variant which can accelerate up to 200+ mph. That seems not only excessive but pointless. Where on earth – literally – can a car be pushed to that limit on a road rather than a racetrack? I think Volvo are onto something. That top speed should get most drivers out of trouble unless they are trying to outrun an avalanche or a pyroclastic cloud.
German autobahns still have a few stretches without any speed limit.
Maybe to outrun the long overdue asteroid collision apocalypse!
The more gadgets you put on cars to assist with driving, the lazier and less attentive drivers will get. If I use cruise control I get bored and my mind wanders, many young drivers are unable to navigate due to sat navs.
Like most things someone will come up with a cheap fix to remove the speed limiter
Re cruise control. I find the opposite to you although my driving is almost certainly in different circumstances. Very little on A roads or Mways. On main roads it prevents my speed ‘ creeping’ higher but the main advantage is on rural roads and through villages where once set the vehicle behind can intimidate me all it wants to break the limit but it’s just not going to happen.
Don’t know about you, but my attention is dulled when I go slower. Is that safe? More than that, safety is *NOT* defined by speed, not just because speed limits are totally arbitrary and opinion, but because the greatest factor to safety is observation, followed by anticipation, then reaction & control. Speed is an *output* of that process, not an input. What do we observer? Road conditions, traffic conditions, weather conditions, pedestrians, etc. etc.
Look at the accident Duke of Edinburgh had recently; that was entirely down to a failure of observation caused by the SLOW i.e. his car. Thankfully no one died.
Well said. There are so many factors that contribute to a collision, any one of which can be the decider.
Totally agree with this – cause and effect turned on their heads, as usual, by those in charge of law-making in European countries.
I think the ultimate goal is to inflict totalitarian misery on everyone by systematically eliminating any pleasures that remain in modern life, sorry, I mean “dangers”.
Even one life saved is a blessing, better driving standards are the key, harsher sentences and punishments for those that are caught breaking the laws of the road. Banned drivers tagged, and not being allowed in any road vehicle maybe a few months of walking everywhere, may change the mind set of habitual offenders that driving is a privilege not a right. I have on many occasions agreed that speed itself isn’t the killer but combine it with an idiot and you have a recipe for disaster.
It is a growing trend that society is increasingly becoming more reactive, instead of proactive, and only changing mindset when involvement in an incident brings reality into focus,. Cars are not the killers its the person and their behaviour behind the wheel that cause the mayhem.
The “if it only saves one life” argument is a dangerous road to go down. If that’s really your aim, more people are killed falling down stairs each year, so you’re better off banning stairs.
Whilst I would not feel comfortable driving at or over112mph & consequently never have, it is not for anyone to impose ever more arbitrary limitations in the name of ‘health & safety’. Just because vocal campaigners push for ever more controls on what we are still allowed to do, doesn’t mean the majority support or will ever support an interfering nanny state. Accidents will always happen because people make mistakes from which they are able to learn & that is a part of life. Justification for ever tighter controls on what we do is usually supported by statistics but a projected statistical death is just that, it is not a real death because statistics is not akin to a crystal ball. The answer you get with statistics is totally influenced by the question asked & the factors which statisticians have deemed important in their analysis. Adults become frustrated when placed in a straight jacket of regulation controling everything they do; they are happier when trusted & not treated like children.
There are Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics. TRUE.
This is the worst kind of blinkered thinking I have seen for a long time…
What evidence are Volvo presenting to show that a substantial number of deaths are caused by driving at 113MPH or higher? There would be no reason to take this action unless such evidence exists.
If it does exist, I’d like to see it, but my understanding is that the vast majority of road deaths occur at speeds lass than 1/3rd of that.
I can’t work out if Volvo genuinely believe this will save lives (which is nonsense), or more likely, they are pandering to the Shock-Headline writers.
Read the whole article!
118Mph is the maximum the vehicle can do but it will never do that as ALL NEW VEHICLES (not just Volvos) are going to be fitted with I S A (Intelligent Spees Assist) within the next 6 years and this is what will help to save lives as it uses a system of sign monitoring, GPS and continuous updates to on board mapping. This will ensure vehicles are unable to break speed limits wirhout using the override system which is logged on the Black boxes that are to be fitted to ALL NEW Vehicles at the same time.
Just will not buy a car with this fitted , will buy a classic car instead,or just give up driving altogether us public transport instead at least you can have a beer or two while using it and not have to worry about speed cameras oh they will be redundant if you cannot break speed limit , Government will lose a fortune in tax if everyone did it ,yeah that’s the way forward drinking beer on the train .
I’d love to see the official figures which show that no deaths occur below 112 mph!
There are only 200 deaths a year that can be attributed to speeding, 587 are through other causes, the figures do not say how fast but most will be under 112 as most would struggle to achieve this sort of speed on UK roads
Whilst I broadly agree, there are about 1800 fatalities on our roads each year, so why do your figures only add up to about 800?
1800 road fatalities include pedestrians. cyclist etc – I doubt these reach 112mph
I think what Volvo is doing is great
Why?
How many lives a year do you estimate it will save?
about 466, based on 26% of 1793 annual deaths, where speed was deemed to be the predominate factor for that death.
I gave up on Volvo cars because they put so many controls down on the centre console creating quite a distraction to use them. Maybe a little more thought on ergonomics would help.
My last three (all estates) are a 1984 740, 1991 960 Turbo, and a 2001 V70. I am not excessively troubled by technology.
Big Brother is watching you! Another nail in one’s coffin. What Draconian act will follow this? Shangri La maybe.
Why not have cars limited to 70mph, the maximum legal speed on UK roads? Why not link GPS mapping of speed limits into vehicles ECU to limit the maximum speed to whatever the speed limit is? Oh… wait a minute… there is no revenue to be gained unless people break the law!
There are problems with GPS-based systems. First of all, they can’t handle temporary speed limits like motorway roadworks – arguably the most dangerous places to speed. Secondly, it’s a system dependent on the goodwill of the American military. That’s why road sign recognition is used instead. As for limiting to 70, that would do nothing for the vast majority of fatalities in the UK which occur within the speed limit and not on motorways and dual carriageways.
Third paragraph: GPS based speed limiters (ISA – Intelligent Speed Assistant) are to be mandatory in Europe from 2021. Even when we’re out of Europe you can bet they’ll still be fitted to UK cars.
Yes they will. The UK has no national type approval regulations of its own (they were last used in the early 1990s) and is planning on simply mirroring the EU requirements. Few manufacturers will do something unique for a market of only 60 million when the EU market is nearly 10 times the size.
Sometimes you need to go above the speed limit for a little while to get yourself out of trouble
Exactly, if successive Governments had really been serious about road safety, they would have ordered car manufacturers to fit this technology into vehicles, as long as 30 years ago.
Excellent. All manufacturers should follow Volvo’s example. In fact there is no need to exceed 70mph! In anyone thinks their liberty and ‘rights’ are being curtailed, then it should be pointed out that a speeding ‘accident’ curtails the liberty and rights of those innocently caught up (and for many others) permanently.
To be honest, Volvo could have gone a lot further by introducing GPS speed monitoring, a system invented 30 years ago that prevents vehicles from being driven faster than any set speed limit. However, Government would never allow this, because if vehicles were prevented from breaking speed limits, it would lose somewhere in the region of £200million per year in fine revenue.
GPS-based systems can’t handle temporary speed limits such as roadworks, or recently-changed limits. It’s also dependent on the American military (or the Russian GLONASS system or (soon) the EU’s Galileo system. Heavy goods vehicles have been speed-limited for more than 30 years and they still seem to have more than their fair share of accidents!
Sometimes you need to go above the speed limit for a little while to get yourself out of trouble
Could you not employ someone who can write English?
As plenty of others have already said, this will reduce the number of deaths in (or caused by) Volvos to only those where the car was doing less than 112 MPH. Anyone like to guess how many a year that would be? 1? 2?
Lets put this into perspective – around 320 people drown each year only around 200 die as a result of speeding, most would have been doing under 112 mph.
Far more people drive than use the water
We must be protected from ourselves! I am told many people die because of accidents putting trousers on or taking them off. Will I be safer in my Volvo wearing just my underpants?
What do you expect if you buy a Volvo.
Having your max speed limited will be a nice addition to your free wooden beaded seat cover and Val Doonican CD’s.
It’s a great headline and I’d love to know how many of those road deaths actually occur above this speed. The cynic in me notes that Volvo also has their Polestar performance division, so this neatly separates the two brands. Want a fast Volvo, buy a Polestar….
I’ve never been a fan of nanny aids for drivers. We should ensure drivers are fully capable of driving properly and responsibly, education and training is far better.
I can think of a few problems, but I’ll pick 2 for now.
How does a speed capped vehicle work in a market where the limit is higher, or doesn’t exist. Obviously not in the UK, but in parts of Germany, many vehicles would be capable of going much faster. How would this go down over there?
My sat nav regularly confuses some parts of my commute drive where there’s an overlap between sections of motorway, and adjacent 30mph zones. It also loses signal completely at times. What’s the fall back position? One would presume the car would self regulate if it moved from say a 70 to a 30 normally, so what would it do if the signal went a bit nuts and it decides you’re no longer on lane 3 of the motorway, you’re suddenly in a 20 zone?
I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely convinced that the constant addition, and subsequent reliance on ever more technology is always a good thing.
Many German cars are already “capped” at 155 MPH. They work just fine. You don’t HAVE to drive at the limit!
The uk national speed limit is 70mph apart from emergency services why does a car have to go at 112. Mph especially when,a person gets caught speeding increased insurance and points on licence
The UK national speed limit is 60, the maximum UK speed limit is 70 (motorways and dual carriageways). But the UK speed limits do not apply anywhere outside the UK, and there are some countries with no upper limit on some sections of roads…so that is why vehicles are capable of speeds greater than 70.
Have the car set to be country specific, or use GPS to determine where the car is and set the upper limit accordingly.
They don’t “have” to be able to go at more than 70, just like people don’t “have” to climb mountains or “have” to play musical instruments. Other than basic shelter and food, there’s not much we “have” to do in order to survive. The question is, how many of us would want to live in a world where the only things permitted were those that we “have” to do?
Interesting that Volvo comes Top of the list of Manufacturers vehicles most likely to be involved in an accident. Does the manufacturers reputation for safety make drivers less responsible safe in the knowledge the vehicle will look after them?
83% of all accidents occur in the 30 and 60 mph speed limit areas.
Amazing this
Drivers are able to override the max speed limit by pushing hard on the throttle, in case of overtaking cars or need to move out of the way sharply.
So why is it the Hgv driver doesn’t have the option to get out of trouble? When braking hard isn’t an option I wonder how many motorway accidents or fatalities could have been avoided. I said it in 1992 when speed limiters were introduced on heavy goods vehicles.
I’ll add one last point. When you vary your speed from for example 56mph which is what the limiters are set at, to say 60 mph which is still the legal speed limit for Hgv’s you, as the driver don’t feel tired so quickly. I never got tired before the speed limiters were introduced, now I could be nodding off within and hour or so on the motorway as I don’t have to watch my speed. One less thing to do when driving 250+ miles. Slowing down traffic very rarely improves traffic flow, in fact it causes more congestion.
You may well ask what qualifications I have, 34 years driving trucks and a very great deal of common sense, which the pen pushers who make up ridiculous rules have no more common sense than a 2 year old.
The reason you feel tired quickly is the job has got to easy not in the hours you work but the actual job, not long before 92 there was nothing powered like steering , clutch, brakes, you had to work it to drive it, hence no lady truck drivers, the old nail I had, you had to change down to get out of a pothole, in them days you pulled 1 ton per 5/6 horsepower now you do 1 ton per 12 + horsepower in some cases and the payload is what, 2/3 ton more, in a vehicle weighing 12 ton more, All those extra safety features, cycle bars etc, extra axles, bigger engine, bigger cabs, more equipment, more weight, It used to take me half an hour to get up shap and I’d be in first gear at the top, these days you don’t even notice it, the same as Telegraph hill in Devon because of the amount of power trucks have today they don’t need to change down on the incline if you slow by a couple of mph you try to over take and it can take 10 miles to do it then you have irate drivers behind you. What qualifications, been there done that over 40 yrs, now retired without killing anyone thank goodness, that must be the worse fear of the job no matter whos fault it was.
geoff, No power steering, clutch , brakes etc before ’92 ?? it was on many trucks in the 70s, Servo vac before air brakes, My qualification, HGV fitter & class 1 driver 73 onwards
Sorry time flys as you get older what I was driving an old Albion in 74 that had no power steering , no power clutch , brakes not sure about the servo, anyway the gist what I was trying to get over was you sit there nice and cumpfy in your arm chair watching the screen you are not using muscle power to do anything apart from opening the curtains or open the back doors unless you are delivering to Lydls or Aldi rdc/ndc where you unload your own truck
Since 2015 the HGV limit was raised to 60mph, not 56mph as you stated, HGV 1 licence since 1974
Ian the UK speed limit as always been 60mph. The 56mph is infact European law of 90kph. Shed, 26 years a hgv class1. Oh plus cpc training, ha need to get that tip take in. How would all these car drivers wish to waste 35 hours of their life being told what you mostly already know!
most congestion is caused not by trucks but by bus lanes.
I cannot agree more. There are 3 ways to avoid an accident about to happen. Stop in time, steer around it or be past it by going a couple of mph faster for a short period. Speed limits and especially limiters remove this 3rd option. How many accidents occur as a result? I bet nobody has bothered to record the stats. Lack of concentration, observation and anticipation are the cause of accidents much more than excessive speed, how much effort is being placed on improving these?
Finally, since 2013 the article says 200 people have died as a direct result of eccessive speed. It is generally accepted that currently 40,000 people die due to pollution (largely vehicle related) each year which would mean approx 200,000 over the same period (assumed 5 years).
Why are Volvo (and us) messing about talking about speed when there is so much more could be done to reduce pollution making the traffic flow more smoothly. For expample, ditching 80% of the 20 limits in favour of more appropriate 25’s and 30’s, encouraging slow drivers to get up to speed limit speed swiftly and making traffic lights more efficient to keep traffic flowing and eliminate red lights to let nobody through whilst a queue is sat there pumping out CO2 and pollutants waiting for the lights to get it right.
If traffic flows better many speed related deaths will be avoided anyway.
Having said all that, I doubt a limiter of 112 will save a single one!
The problem suggests that certain Volvos are well over-powered and detuning to a more realisic level would accomplish much the same effect with good results for fuel efficiency and no need for a speed limiter if the max speed it can do is 112mph! Too much reliance on technology removed removes responsibility from the driver and no amount of electronic stuff can prevent an idiot crashing into your car from the side at a potentially fatal 60mph. Technology is not free from fault either.
A limiter does make sense. You need decent performance at normal speeds for easy driving but that means that top speed unchecked would be inordinately high. And you don’t want the engine flat out maintaining a reasonable motorway cruising speed. Very wearing, both on passengers and engine.
Can anyone do anything about the idiots that drive at 45mph everywhere, they zoom through 20 and 30 zones and get into a 60 zone and continue at 45! It’s not the car it’s stupid drivers that cause accidents.
Or the ones that drive at 35 all the time. On my way to work I frequently have a car riding on my boot in the 30 limit, he vanishes behind when we get into the 40 limit only to reappear again and the next 30 zone. And no, I don’t speed.
my car is fitted with radar which I can set at 1,2 or 3 car lengths, this applies the brakes so I can’t tailgate, I set it at 2 car lengths on urban roads and 3 for motorways. All cars should have this.
Ridiculous! Is your ability so lacking that you really need a device that holds you back from tailgating? And 3 car lengths is far too close for motorway speeds anyway, even in the dry. At 70 mph your thinking time alone will need at least three car lengths, let alone braking or taking other avoiding action.
Speed itself isn’t the cause of collisions; INAPPROPRIATE speed is one of a whole host of factors that can lead to a collision. They will include road surface, condition of tyres and brakes, weather, car’s handling characteristics, and, above all, the driver’s ability to constantly evaluate all conditions and drive safely within them. If only!
Following cars at just three car lengths at motorway speeds is crazy or even 2 car lengths for urban use. Why is there a need to follow so closely. Create a space and drive more relaxed knowing your rear view mirror isn’t full of another potential danger
Really! 3 car lengths on motorway? So it’s you who is always tailgating then!
Maybe you should try 14/15 car lengths and make people you are following feel safe
I think on UK motorways you have precisely zero chance of leaving the mandated distance between you and the car in front because someone always pulls into it due to volume of traffic and you would be forever braking to try and maintain it, which in itself is not exactly safe…
I feel also that if you leave a large safety gap, say 14/15 car lengths, some “pill brain” will see that as an invitation to leap in thus causing sudden braking to re-establish the safe gap. The idea is sound but, like all the situations listed, there is no simple answer other than good responsible driving and total concentration on that!!
2 car lengths is tailgating = the general rule is a 2 second gap between cars, That is a car length for every 5 Miles per hour – 30 mph Urban driving = 6 car lengths, 70 MPH motorway driving = 14 car lengths
The rule for a safe stopping distance is not actually distance itself, but time. As my driving instructor told me:
“Only a fool breaks the two second rule” & “If it’s wet on the floor, give it four”
These are of course minimum recommended stopping gaps and anything greater is preferred. On snow and ice you leave as much distance as is reasonably possible. This “number of car lengths” rubbish is spreading a false sense of safety and only encourages people to drive too close at higher speeds.
Intelligent Speed Adaptation will probably fix that. They’re so out-of-touch with everything around them that they’re unlikely to realise they can over-ride the system.
I always smile when having overtaken a motorist on a derestricted stretch they always end up tail gating me when we hit the 30mph, if they are in that much of a rush why not go a little faster when it’s legal to do so?
‘de-restricted stretch’ – Which country are you in?
What’s now called the ‘National Speed Limit’ sign used to be called the ‘Derestriction’ sign.
Yeah live in the present not the past!
That’s the problem with driving these days, these slow drivers on the motorway, don’t speed where they’re supposed to.
Really, I never realised that we were ever ‘supposed’ to speed! I thought that we were ‘supposed’ to travel at a speed appropriate to the road conditions etc.
Had a speeding driver coming towards me yesterday evening in a white van on a well flooded road, he drove through the flood way too fast and his bow wave covered my car completely, it took three sweeps for the wipers to clear the screen again. Don’t know how much road I covered in that time but it was more than enough in the wet and dark! Bl**dy idiot.
There ought to be proximity/ danger alarms on mobile phones for those not paying attention crossing the road,
I read somewhere that there are more accidents in the 20mph zones than the 30 zones now, with people not paying attention so how is stopping vehicles doing more than 112 going to stop them
There is only Germany in Europe where you can legally do over 80 mph, is the 112 so that they don’t upset them
My car has a speed sign recognition system fitted and I have enabled the facility for a chime to sound if I exceed the posted speed limit by more than 3mph. However, the car frequently reads the limits posted on side roads as I pass. One such example is a 60mph road but when I pass a slip lane off which has 30 posted, the car immediately “thinks” I should be doing a maximum of 30mph so starts chiming until I pass the next 60 sign. If Volvo’s system would automatically slow me down to 30 it could cause someone to run into the rear of my car.
If Volvo are keen on reducing accidents they should abandon the touch screens they use for the infotainment system and replace them with the systems BMW and Mercedes use. A touch screen requires the driver to look at the screen in order to select functions whereas the other systems are far more intuitive.
This is another example of Big Brother taking over as is fully autonomous cars. I’m all in favour of saving lives but this will have negligible effect as there will be millions of older cars on the roads that are not fitted with such systems.
I have the same type of system on my Jaguar and that doesn’t work either. If I did what it suggested at times I would be going down motorways at 20 and through villages at 70
😃 you need to get a Merc, mine works fine.
Complete garbage. In this country, most accidents occur within a few miles of home, which means 40 mph or less, so where does the 112 mph come into it? When they say “speeding”, do they mean exceeding the posted speed limit or inappropriate speed for the conditions? The two are rarely linked. It could be dangerous going at 29 mph in a 30 limit if the conditions dictated it. To also suggest that zero deaths could be obtained is just pure fantasy. There is a risk to life & limb whatever we do, whether it is getting out of bed, going to the shops or driving.
As a driver of a Volvo convertible, 9 years old but with very few miles as I only use it less than 10 miles a day with a new Jag supercharged and a VXR both of which have high tops speeds it is not the top speed that is the selling point it is the acceleration and being able to get out of trouble that’s the main factor. Also nothing is better than experience when it comes to driving and therefore not taking risks. The trouble when you are a driver of what is perceived as a fast car everyone wants to chase you and overtake in the riskiest of places or sit on your bumper when they have no idea of the 2nd rule. They are the ones who put others in danger not the drivers of the fast cars.
Great aspiration to save lives but such a poor concept. The majority of accidents are caused by dangerous and irresponsible driving, late lane changing and phone/sat nav distractions. These, combined with a very low general ability of most drivers are the real problems.
Speed is easiest to address so as usual it’s the biggest target. So predictable!
Once cars are fitted with intelligent speed limiters, this is only one step away from the automatic communication from the car to the DVLA for the immediate issue for fines to those who override the system legally or illegally. Remember the fine is issued quite simply for the breaking of a speed limit and nothing to do with legitimate need to do so.
Durr. Volvo must be having a quiet chuckle at all the literal-minded folks jumping on the figure of 112mph. This isn’t about speed. It’s about fuel costs – this site IS petrolprices.com after all.
Air resistance rises at the square of speed. So by opting for a low-ish top speed limit, Volvo can optimise fuel consumption for normal road speeds without having to faff around building-in expensive horsepower to achieve top speeds that are normally only seen during road-tests and pub conversations around ‘my car can go faster than your car.’
When rival companies try to make an issue out of Volvo’s comparatively weedy BHP figures, Volvo can play the safety/responsibility card (for what it’s worth given that most commenters here rightly point out that almost no top speed limit on a car will practically affect accidents or deaths).
But Volvos will still get great mpgs and the company will still save money on engine design, and on tuning for emissions tests, due to the lower maximum mechanical load/state of tune.
Eventually other manufacturers will follow suit and no-one will actually mind because they hardly ever go over 90mph.
Just imagine all the fingers from smug B…….s in the fatherland, blasting past in Mercs/BMW. Won’t sell many more Volvos there Eh?
‘Honest officer, I was not speeding, not even a touch over 110mph’
What nonsense! The Dft say only 2% of crashes for those of us over the age of 25 are caused by speeding – or should I say ‘Driving too fast?’ In our village there is a 30mph limit. Anyone going over 25 is a damn fool. Outside the village there is ‘National Speed Limit applies’ up lanes where 30 is also too fast. However, 60mph is legal. Speeding? Not really. Driving too fast? Definitely!
Inattentiveness is the biggest cause of crashes. Too many people look no further than the end of their bonnet and everyone’s pet hate is tailgating.
The only way forward is the toughest; train and educate, put pride back in the skills of driving – it’s the only skill that we learn in life that the majority don’t continually work on improving.
Think about that.
Since nobody has ever been killed in a Volvo going over 112mph, this measure will have no effect on the Volvo death rate. What a ridiculous report. As a former road accident analyst, I observe that accidents are primarily cased by driver error and distractions.
What a pointless exercise – Speed by itself is not the issue, it is innapropriate speed for the conditions. Many drivers use innapropriate speeds at much lower speed than the proposed cap by Volvo.
Education of drivers, enforcement of driving standars etc. are the only methods that will start to reduce death and injury on our roads!!
This is just a P.R. exercise….virtue signalling on a grand scale. Where do people have the opportunity to do 112mph, other than the occasional German autobahn? If manufacturers were really serious about reducing speeds, they wouldn’t fit such overly-powerful engines to their cars.
Good to see Volvo continuing to challenge what they can do to make their cars safer and reduce road deaths.
My only thought on their 112mph limit is ‘how many Volvo drivers die in crashes over 112mph?’
Lots of people posting here who clearly haven’t read, or haven’t understood the words. Volvo have said that they want to limit the speed of their vehicles to stop people dying “in a Volvo car”, which simply means that their car are designed such that death is unlikely at speeds lower than 112mph. Above that speed, death whilst travelling in a Volvo is much more likely. So, limit the speed of their vehicles and improve the chances that anyone involved in a crash whilst in a Volvo will survive.
Frankly, it’s not that difficult to understand.
The most important nut in a car is the one holding the steering wheel. The driver decides what speed is appropriate in different conditions. It’s not the car that kills, it’s the bad decisions the driver makes.
Hopefully the introduction of ‘Intelligent Speed Assistant’ will provide the demise of speed cameras, road humps, and chicanes and release police for other duties. The addition is well overdue.
In your dreams 🙂
someone may have already said this but does that mean all older cars will need to be retro fitted if other companies jump aboard with this absurd idea
Where is the NZ advert referred to in the text ?
Hi Derek, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdOnF2v0mXM