Why aren't cars speed limited?

Deastons

in 22 years of driving, I've never had the need, nor authority, to drive faster than 70mph. So why are all cars sold in the UK capable of going the speeds they can? Apparently my car is limited... to 155mph. Madness!

Why aren't cars sold here automatically limited to, for example, 77mph. If you want to have the limiter deactivated, sign a consent form and have it switched off.

chris_n

I've certainly driven my UK registered car at 155, not in the UK though!

[Deleted User]

I often take my car over 100mph, in the UK, quite legally.

If you can happily drive to the speed limits, why is this even an issue for you?

Deastons

ilikethesimpsons wrote: »

I often take my car over 100mph, in the UK, quite legally.

If you can happily drive to the speed limits, why is this even an issue for you?

Because 99% of drivers aren't interested in track days etc. And if speeding is as dangerous as we're told it is, it amazes me why technology hasn't been used to prevent it.

I wonder if anyone has ever tried to sue the manufacturer for allowing the car to go so fast when they get done for speeding.

RichardD1970

Why should manufacturers spend extra money to limit ALL cars for sale in the UK?

It would just add extra complexity to an already very complex build process catering for all different territories.

What happened to personal responsibility?

Edit,

Oh b!gg!r, Just realised, aren't you DM, with your 155mph limited fantasy car, and I've just answered sensibly :wall:

DoaM

Why should the limit be 77? That won't prevent speeding, it'll only prevent speeding (probably) on roads where the posted speed limit is 70. (I seem to recall that the majority of deaths and injuries [attributable to speed] are on roads where the posted limit is less than 70, so having the vehicle limited to 77 would do nothing to address the overall problem).

Nick_C

Limiting cars to 70 wouldn't stop people speeding where the limit is 30 or 40.

Doing 40 in a built up area is potentially far more dangerous than doing 90 on the motorway.

I did drive a new Toyota recently that had an automatic speed warning system that used GPS, but it wasn't 100% accurate.

And if I needed to take a family member to hospital in an emergency then sod the law, I wouldn't want to be limited to 70 on the A1.

Ganga

I used to be white van man and the company had the vans speed limited but the reason was to reduce their insurance costs

RichardD1970

I do remember an episode of Top Gear where Clarkson was driving a Subaru, I think, in Japan that was connected to GPS and only allowed maximum performance when it "saw" the car was at a track.

Warwick_Hunt

RichardD1970 wrote: »

I do remember an episode of Top Gear where Clarkson was driving a Subaru, I think, in Japan that was connected to GPS and only allowed maximum performance when it "saw" the car was at a track.

Wasn’t it a Nissan GT-R in Japan?

RichardD1970

Warwick_Hunt wrote: »

Wasn’t it a Nissan GT-R in Japan?

May have been.