One day – probably not far from now – people will look back and try to remember when they could still drive faster than whatever the speed limit was. All they had to do was drive faster – and watch for cops. Since almost everyone else was doing the same, it was easy to drive faster than the speed limit with relative impunity, so long as you didn’t do anything else to stand out from the crowd.
Soon, everyone will be driving the speed limit – because their vehicles won’t permit them to drive faster. Most people do not see this coming, of course – because it is coming slowly, one piece at a time. This is how it’s always done. Which is why most people do not see it until it is done.
All new vehicles – and most vehicles made since about three years ago – come standard with “speed limit assistance technology.” This implies people need such “assistance,” which implies they are enfeebled in some way. As if they did not know what the speed limit is – and that they were driving faster by accident.
Really, officer? I had no idea I was going that fast! 
And OJ is still looking for the real killers.
If only people knew they were speeding, they wouldn’t! So goes the surface argument for “assisting” them via “technology” that tells them they are, visually and audibly. A little speed limit icon in the dash that looks just like the speed limit sign by the sign of the road tells you what the speed limit is. If you drive faster, it turns red to let you know you’re driving faster, sometimes accompanied by an annoying chime that is designed to do just that. Annoy you, in the manner of the seatbelt reminder that doesn’t stop “reminding” you until you’ve given in and buckled-up.
Note (again) the abusive use of language. A reminder sounds friendly. As in friendly reminder. A friend does not incessantly pester you to give in to his demands – which is exactly what a “seatbelt reminder” does. So stop calling it that.
Call it what it is: A seatbelt nagger.
Similarly as regards being “assisted.” In the first place, when you haven’t been asked whether you need it, it becomes something other than “assistance,” doesn’t it? If a random stranger grabbed your elbow and began “assisting” you up stairs you are perfectly capable of climbing yourself, would you be off-put or thankful?
You are not being “assisted.” You are being conditioned.
There is a reason why so-called “assistance technology” is inescapable (in new vehicles) now. The whole point is to make it so you can’t escape it. Else it would be available – optionally – for those who felt a need for such “assistance.” But it has been made standard and so unavoidable in new vehicles, even though every survey of buyer wants has made clear that by great majorities, most people do not want to be “assisted.” Many say they would pay extra to opt-out of such “assistance.” The vehicle manufacturers are ignoring this, which is clear proof they know something – expect something – that most of the rest of us do not.
What is that thing? Is it not obvious? They anticipate a government requirement that will entail more than a reminder you’re driving faster-than-allowed. They anticipate a federal requirement preventing a car from being driven faster-than-allowed. So – rather than wait for the requirement, they anticipate it and are thus complicit. The government, for its part, knows many people will not accept it – if it were to be done all-at-once. So it is done a little at a time and – at first – there’s just the “reminder.”
The rest comes after.
The big question isn’t whether it will soon be impossible to drive faster than the speed limit in a new or late-model vehicle equipped with “assistance technology.” That is a near-certainty. The “technology” is already being used in Europe and also here in commercial vehicles such as over-the-road trucks.
It is what the government is going to do about all those older vehicles that do not have “assistance technology.”
It is not unlikely they’ll be de facto ushered off the roads via a requirement that every vehicle be equipped with “assistance technology” in order to be legal for use on the government’s roads. Since it is not feasible to retrofit older vehicles (especially those that lack connectedness and don’t have drive-by-wire throttle and so on) with this “technology,” the requirement will serve as the de facto ban. The insurance mafia could and likely will be used to achieve the same by applying exorbitant premium costs to vehicles that lack such “assistance technology,” forcing their owners to either give them up or go native – and just drive them anyhow, the panopticon be damned.
That – widespread noncompliance – is the only way to end this sort of thing once it begins. Otherwise, not only doesn’t it end.
It always gets worse.
. . .
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Between the fed mandated dash warnings and robotic controls over your own private vehicle, the Johnny cabs and sheep in their EVs will simply force everyone to drive between 20-25 MPH everywhere except highways (which will be turned into trains in no time). I had a terrifying thought recently that (due to the militarization of local police) we will have police drones tracking and fining or arresting older vehicles everywhere. I’d give it 5 years max. Except of course poor people who will summarily be ignored by the system.
Go WA! They didn’t start calling it the “Soviet of Washington” back in the 30s or 40s for nothing!
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/washington-forcing-speeding-offenders-install-gps-speed-limiters
Eric have you heard of automatic braking when parking? A couple of times of parallel parking and I hit the car behind. At least that’s what it felt like. I get out of the car and there’s a foot between the car and I’m wondering what is going on? Maybe I did just hit the car.
This is in a new rental car by the way.j
Hi Groundhog,
Yup! What happened was your car decided you were “too close” and slammed on the brakes. Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety first!
Whoever set the limit at 1 foot never parked downtown in a large city.
The shop I work at, a guy with a newer car came in complaining his ‘road sign assist’ wasn’t appearing on the heads up display. That’s a blessing. Just like the retards who get mad when their ASS system isn’t working anymore. That’s a gift.
Anyway, this car needed a new windshield camera because apparently it got glaucoma or something. Couldn’t read the signs. It was under warranty. That same ‘problem’ out of warranty is going to cost you about $2k to fix.
I can see people going rogue and disabling the camera (somehow) and then if you get in trouble claim the dealer wants $3k to fix it and you don’t have that kind of money.
Morning,Cheddar –
Yup. I have two friends who are independent mechanics and run their own shops. The stories I get from them are enough to keep me far, far away from any vehicle made since about 2005.
2005? …I thought it was 1999?
While I LOVE fuel injection in -30 degree Winter, I am seriously considering going back to carbureted (that word is not in spellcheck, funny, that) transportation.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carbureted
Gosh, if that happened to me, Cheddar, I would consider it a blessing, and would have a good laugh. What a world we live in when someone complains that Big Brother tech is not working and actually wants it replaced so it works again.
Yah, yah, Once again, reminded of this bit:
Star Trek Next Gen,
‘We Look For Things To Make Us Go’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hSmsrixcUM
Morning, Helot!
The Pakled episode is one of the Next Generation series’ best!
OMG, WTF??
‘President Donald Trump said Tuesday afternoon that he thinks Ukraine, with help from the European Union, could win back its territory from Russia and return the country to its original borders.
‘The president had previously suggested numerous times that giving up some land would be a key component of resolving Ukraine’s war with Russia.
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump said in a lengthy post on Truth Social.
‘The president said that with the financial support of NATO, returning Ukraine to its original borders is “very much an option.” He added that Russia has been “fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna233287
Dude has morphed into G W Bush. Mission accomplished! (in his own mottled mind). I am so done with this Orange Flake. 🙁
Amen, Jim –
I suppose we’ll just have to Vote Harder next time.
If Donald Trump wants to take on Russia, then Donald Trump can put on fatigues, grab a rifle, jump out of an airplane at the Ukraine/Russia border, and show us how it’s done. He can cozy up to John Bolton in a foxhole. Just leave the rest of us out of it, please. No one cares about a few drones of questionable origin with Russian markings.
There used to be Trump signs, flags and banners displayed all over this area of Eastern Iowa.
…I don’t recall the last time I saw one.
…Seems, telling.
I read that, Publius, and wonder if Trump has lost his friggin’ mind!? Being in Alaska, I always keep an eye on Russia. I joke that I need to brush up on my Russian, and then Trump has to open his big fat mouth and say something stupid like he did to just further reinforce how we are ruled by fools. Well, better the devil you know”, as the saying goes. I would rather have Russia up here than China. But really, WTF??
Putin’s troops will be greeted as liberators…if anyone is left alive to cheer them as they march in.
Oligarchy -> gerontocracy -> stultocracy -> scurrocracy -> ?
Progress!
This tech also means no more passing.
It will be impossible, except perhaps to pass a tractor going 5 or 10 mph.
People seem to drive like complacent livestock already. Maybe it’s because I’m old now and remember everyone having fun in cars up to maybe 20 years ago, but the average driver pisses me off. They don’t yield, they don’t pass, they’ll sit in a conga line and make it harder for me to pass, they stop 10 feet from the stop line at a light, and leave several car lengths in front of themselves when stopping behind someone, etc. It’s maddening!
I will say OL in the Winter I keep a car’s length distance between me and the car in front of me at a red light. Then that way if the idiot fool behind me is going too fast for the slippery road conditions I have an out…and can get into the left or right lane to avoid being rear ended. More than a few times that bit of space has saved me.
I ran 3 stop signs (in my neighborhood), ran through a red light (clear intersection), and passed a slow poke in a no passing zone this morning on my drive to work. No harm done. Much fun had.
On my way to work yesterday I did a California stop at a stop sign. Passed an FBAT via the turn lane (Fkn Big Assed Truck) when he pulled out in front of me (no cars behind me). Fool could not bother waiting five seconds for me to pass. And this is before the snow and ice settle on for the Winter.
What surprises me is that companies are putting these systems in without a direct mandate. There is an indirect mandate, where the regulators say that you must add systems to achieve “safety” goals, but their design is up to you. The threat is that if you don’t “voluntarily” include these systems in cars, there will be mandates for specific systems.
The automotive regulators, who are hard to pin down since they belong to several agencies, like the NHTSA, EPA, and various state agencies, are all in desperate need of reform. They’re overstepping their directly legislated bounds, and it all happens in the dark, out of sight.
Why won’t some car company no, we’re not putting these in, if you want them, mandate them directly?
“The automotive regulators… are all in desperate need of reform”
I wonder if your idea of “reform” is the same as mine.
It’s surprising they haven’t gone to ticket by mail. Let the device send the data to the insurance and the police, then you get a ticket which you pay, or your ‘privilege’ is suspended. Am not liking this brave new world at all. What they have already shown us, is a great reason to root for collapse, and the demise of the empire built on Dollar Dollar Bill Yo.
It’s going to be a rough rest of the decade for anyone who still loves the old ways. When the time comes, here’s hoping enough people resist taking the CBDC. At worst, you can always take it a month or two later. What will be the harm in waiting? Just some inconvenience. Just think what would have happened during Covid if more people had waited before accepting the mask and vax. If even 10 out of one hundred had resisted, instead of just 1 or 2 of us, the ‘flu killing everyone’ narrative would have collapsed in weeks, not years.
I had read years ago, Norman, of this very thing happening in the UK somewhere. A driver reached and passed a traffic camera. The camera deemed they reached said camera “too soon” from the last known traffic cam they had passed. A speeding ticket was summarily mailed to the offending driver. No proof, no LEO to pull them over with a radar gun, nada. Just an assumption from a machine. So yes, it is coming to the States if people continue to be frogs being boiled in the slowly warming water.
Some places have vans that watched for stop light violations and would mail tickets to people. From what I heard these were a contractor to the municipality and as such it was determined that only a cop can issue a ticket because the violation (such as it is) has to be witnessed by an officer of the court. The extortion slip you’re given is sworn evidence/testimony and if you don’t submit to the roadside waiving of your rights (which you may do when you “sign” the ticket) you can take it in front of a judge and the cop has to show up to the hearing to defend the ticket. He’s shown to tell the justification and provide proof, such as the calibration data for the radar gun.
Hi Shadow,
It happened to us already. About ten years ago, in the little town of Prescott Valley, an hour away from us. They had these speed cameras. When you enter the town it drops from 65 to 50. They sent a ticket to my wife as her Lincoln was tagged doing 89 as it entered the town limits. They sent a picture, clear as day. I was looking right up into the camera, like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar. They wanted 400 bucks, Since the car was registered solely in her name, she sent the ticket back with a note that said ‘I have no idea who that crazy asshole is behind the wheel of my car.’ Case dismissed. a few years later the town removed the cameras because of pushback. At least for now, in Az, we still get to face our (human) accusers.
There will only be a select few of us that will keep driving our old cars in defiance of the law. We will be easily singled out and dealt with.
Maybe at that point I’ll rig up my car with a special surprise for the state goon bold enough to steal it from me.
I like that idea Philo,
I am definitely going to keep driving my old car until I am physically unable to do so, government be damned.
My newer Camry (a 2021) has the speed limit sign, but it does not turn red if I drive over the posted speed limit. Out in BFE, the sign often disappears altogether, and especially on back roads. Which I find hilarious, for some reason. The camera for that is located behind the rear view mirror, and a small strip of black duct tape over the camera works nicely, as it picks up nothing after that-ha ha! On the hills, to hell with the speed limit, I am driving what I need to get over them without feeling like walking over them would be a quicker way to get somewhere. Oh, I read an article the other day where it reminded us that the 2026 vehicles will have ‘passive’ breathalyzers in them. Oh goodie, God forbid if we were left alone to think for ourselves without a saaaaafeeety device shilling in our ears.
They have to have GIS data available when it’s compiled into a map, which can be incomplete or wrong when it’s not near a population center. The GIS information may come from a state highway department, a county or city or a private or open source group like Garmin, Tom Tom, Open Street Maps, Google (who collects this on the sly based on the movement of people’s phones).
That makes sense, Gerry. I notice the lack of date when out in BFE, and when I get out of town. As there is no such thing as a “short trip” in these parts, the beloved (cough, gag) speed limit sign often disappears completely somewhere along the way while driving. For grins, I Google Earthed the area I live in, and found out many of the side roads do not exist, which I found a bit funny, but am sure hurt no one’s feelings. We all got along just fine without such “assistance”, and will do find again in the future, too.
For some reason, I found this a bit comforting:
“I Google Earthed the area I live in, and found out many of the side roads do not exist,”
…Of course, give the bastards, time.
Truckers deal with governors all the time. The company sets the max speed and no matter how hard you mash the GO pedal it won’t do more than what’s set. Some companies set the max speed to 70. Others set it to 72. I don’t think any of them will set it to 90 because the insurance company will take them to the woodshed on premiums. So we all get a preview of what’s to come: Trucker A is traveling at 69 MPH. Trucker B, whose governor is set to 70 MPH, decides he must pass trucker A. So now for the next mile and a half we all queue up behind the two vehicles while they have their drag race. You’d think A might slow down a little and clear out the lane, but I think it’s a game to them, something interesting in an otherwise boring stretch of highway.
That’s our future. You can only slow down, never go faster. I imagine highway trolls will get together and clog up the highways just for the LULZ. Children will have no idea how to modulate the accelerator pedal, they’ll just mash it to the floor like a bumper car. Clovers will continue to clog up the left lane only now they will feel justified because they’re Locked down to the PSL, and never yield.
I worked for a company that put governors on the fleet of trucks we could check for use. They are a pain in the rear. I don’t really blame the company, it’s their choice. Maybe it’s fair to blame the system that dictates they had to do this. But they were self insured so it wasn’t a dictate by an insurance company outright, but I suspect after a few incidents they felt the need to control costs. The problem was the wrecks weren’t on Interstate and the governor wasn’t adaptive in a way it could reduce the limit on a gravel road, so it wasn’t really solving the problem. What really did was the drivers knowing GPS data was constantly recorded and so in the event the question came up they could pinpoint location, speed and who had checked out the truck.
Hi Minnie,
Thanks for the info re the governors. My chief objection is these things are premised on the assumption that “speeding” is always bad and that all drivers are incompetent/reckless idiots who can’t be trusted to exercise judgment. It is part of the one-size-fits-all dumbing down that has reduced us to the status of idiot children forced to live in a nursery run by people who hate kids.
Man, if you saw the way some of the field techs and engineers drove those checked out trucks you’d probably understand why they had the fleet wrenches put governors on. Drive it like a rental was an understatement. Flying down gas field access roads. But in our defense they never sent anyone to driving school, so what exactly did they expect? Like I say, it’s their choice, no one was obligated to work there nor did you strictly have to use the company trucks. But no one in their right mind would use a personal truck, the bentonite build up alone is ridiculous.
Morning, Minnie!
Of course! But I see that as precisely the point. The irresponsible people aren’t held accountable. Instead, everyone – including people who are responsible – is presumed irresponsible. This is demeaning and – of course – tyrannical, too.
Fascinating — the photo above, of a digital speedo reading 66. The right-hand half of the circle indicates that regenerative braking is feeding almost 30 kW back into the battery.
So why don’t IC-engined vehicles have these instantaneous power input/output gauges? The engine computer can estimate power output from engine speed (rpm) and throttle position.
Hypothesis: EeeVees have them for the regenerative braking indicator, to make people think they’re getting some free electrons for nothing. Otherwise the propulsion power output is of little interest, bordering on useless information — unless the gauge also can isolate parasitic loads such as HVAC. Those are a big deal for EeeVee victims, along with hill climbing.
GM used to put Power Economy gauges on the dash. My friend’s Monte Carlo had one. They were just vacuum gauges, so not very useful other than for making fun of it when starting at the traffic signal.
One of the features/benefits of driving an EV is that the driver can dial in the regeneration to enable one foot driving, which I think is why they show the power back into the battery on the dash (and to make you think you’re getting something for nothing). There’s no reason why this couldn’t be done in today’s drive by wire ICE vehicles other than no one thinks that way.
My Lotus has a performance display, and it shows instantaneous HP, torque, intake pressure, and down force. It’s kinda neat, and useless, because I never look at it, as I’m looking at the road.
The Scangage tool you plug into your OBD port offers instantaneous power on your display, along with various economy metrics. The engine can’t really tell you exactly the power since this is a function of torque at the crankshaft and ultimately the drivetrain and aerodynamics. So the value Scangage (and most computers from the OEM) do exactly as you suggest, use throttle position (which is usually given as a percentage), RPM, fuel rate, ignition advance and whatever other inputs they might have to calculate a theoretical power.
While GovCo might want older cars off the road the problem becomes one of newer cars becoming unaffordable for many people. Another thing to consider is that some people who have been forced out of their cars might respond by dropping objects from bridges onto those cars still driving.
Another consideration is the vast amount of money spent on repairing, insuring and buying collector cars; those industries will fight tooth and nail to protect their interests. For example: if you don’t own a car you probably won’t be buying torches, hoists, impact wrenches, scan tools and many other tools you want or need to keep your older car running.
GovCo might expect you to spend your money elsewhere but at a certain point how times can you go to Cracker Barrel or a movie before you just say “F*ck It”?
The insurance mafia will eventually require drivers of older vehicles to activate an app on their “smart” phones anytime they get behind the wheel and leave the program running during the entire duration of the trip. No app, no coverage for any incident, regardless of who is at fault.
When a person uses a map app (Google, Apple, Waze) they are already doing that. That data is aggregated for various uses, such as feeding traffic information that you see on the teevee news. In that case it’s generally randomized but the fundamental data is individually identifiable, especially if the person logs into an account on the phone. Not to mention cars for years now have had black boxes, so called EDR or event data recorders, that take speed from the car or GPS and know some amount of recent history. Those little dongles you plug in to give you a discount from your insurance are just tapping this same information so even if you decide not to get one they can still get it later.
How on earth will the local, county, and state police fund their new combat gear & urban assault vehicles in a world where drivers don’t “speed”?
Hi MH,
I am convinced they don’t care about that – long term – because the long term goal is to largely eliminate individual driving. Freedom of movement is not compatible with a panopticon.
Easy — fedgov funding replaces speeding tickets. Like the $30 billion in this year’s budget for hiring 10,000 new ICE agents. They don’t issue speeding tickets either.
Fedgov funding obliterates state sovereignty — surprise! Say thanks to the party of Lincoln. 🙂
MH,
Local police will be disbanded, re-titled and federally funded especially in large urban areas for the specific *policing* they will engage in:
Environmental Police;
Hate Speech Police;
Racial inequity Police;
Gender Police;
Unfortunately, the current vanguard of Armed Government Workers are unknowingly providing the grist for their own demise by the absolute stupidity to which they do their jobs by violating everyone’s rights they come into contact with impunity. If these jerk-weeds come to their senses they might have a chance, but I think it is too late. They took an oath to protect and defend the constitution…then do so. And stop treating every traffic stop or an encounter as if Bin Laden is behind the wheel.
Most likely, they will fund it through Federal grants financed by the $37 trillion debt and the $1 trillion annual Pentagon budget…
Those numbers you cite are why gold ripped to a fresh record high of $3,793 an ounce this morning:
https://www.jmbullion.com/charts/gold-price/
Never forget Donnie Fubar’s unspoken campaign vow: Death to the dollar!