Smiley face speed warnings

[bungeejumper]

Grrr, I'm a bit annoyed about this, although I don't actually think there's a law against it.

Coming through a village last week, that has a known problem with speeders, I dropped down to the statutory 30 mph and got a scowly-faced 34 mph "TOO FAST!" warning from the roadside thingy. Which annoyed me a bit. So yesterday I checked it against the satnav. Satnav said 30 mph, scowly face said 36 and "TOO FAST!"

Now, I can understand that this particular village is p1ssed off about the Audi drivers who cruise through at 50, but something's wrong if they're antagonising all the rest of us who are trying to do the right thing. And my respect for the accuracy of these machines has taken a bad knock. Which surely can't be in anyone's interest?

OTOH, my mate who's in a village speed watch somewhere else says that the infringement rate is still phenomenal. The other week, the police set up a mobile radar trap and nailed 43 out of 60 tested drivers, all doing more than 40 mph. On a Saturday morning, too. Worst offender was doing 72.

BJ

[Slarti]

I'm a great believer in using cruise control to help maintain a legal speed, without having to keep watching the speedo all the time.

In Hatfield Peveral there are 2 of those and one says I'm doing the speed limit, whereas the other sometimes says I'm 2 or 3 mph over, or sometimes 2 or 3 under the 30mph limit even though I've set things the same as usual.

I know why they are needed, having been overtaken in the village, outside thee village shop, where pedestrians crossing to the housing estate on the other side are common.


Slarti

[bungeejumper]

I'm a great believer in using cruise control to help maintain a legal speed, without having to keep watching the speedo all the time.

Ooooh, I dunno, villages are one place where I wouldn't expect cruise control to be much use to me. The first bit of 'bunching' traffic, the first bit of giving way to somebody, and down goes your foot on the clutch and then cruise goes off.

[Light-bulb recollection] But you have an auto box, I think? Okay, I take some of that back. But even then, I don't really like using cruise in traffic-heavy situations. Would rather stay fully awake and trigger-sharp.

BJ

[Slarti]

I'm a great believer in using cruise control to help maintain a legal speed, without having to keep watching the speedo all the time.

Ooooh, I dunno, villages are one place where I wouldn't expect cruise control to be much use to me. The first bit of 'bunching' traffic, the first bit of giving way to somebody, and down goes your foot on the clutch and then cruise goes off.

[Light-bulb recollection] But you have an auto box, I think? Okay, I take some of that back. But even then, I don't really like using cruise in traffic-heavy situations. Would rather stay fully awake and trigger-sharp.

BJ

Yes, I do have auto. In fact I've never driven a car with cruise that isn't an auto, so I've no idea what it would be like.

I like to use cruise so that I can have my foot hovering over the brake pedal to allow an even quicker stop.
Most of my village driving is not during heavy traffic times, eg before morning rush hour or after evening one. If I'm lucky.

Slarti

[Howard]

I always use cruise control in these situations and have just tested a new golf for Mrs H. One can set a distance to the car in front and the cruise control will hold the gap, braking when the car in front brakes.

Apparently it will also brake if a pedestrian steps out in front. Haven't tried that!

It is also effective on motorways, recognising the speed of cars in front in the same lane and ignoring slower or faster lanes. Am interested to see whether this will be an improvement which will be useful in normal driving.

As a driver who tends to drive fairly fast I have found cruise control to be a tremendous help in keeping my speed down on motorways and dual carriageways. Driving a quiet car it is easy to find oneself going too fast if not careful. Over the years I have been thankful for cruise control on a number of occasions as I went past camera vans.

regards

Howard

[bungeejumper]

I always use cruise control in these situations and have just tested a new golf for Mrs H. One can set a distance to the car in front and the cruise control will hold the gap, braking when the car in front brakes.

Apparently it will also brake if a pedestrian steps out in front. Haven't tried that!

It's clear that adaptive cruise is making great strides these days. But a cautionary tale from a friend whose Volvo did the unexpected in a built-up area. The car she was following turned off onto a side road, and her car immediately gunned itself up to the pre-set speed. Which was far too high for the situation. Could have been nasty.

Yes, it was her own fault of course. She'd forgotten to reset the CC speed down to the 30 mph limit when she entered the village - she'd just become too dependent on the adaptive thingy. And as soon as the "slow-moving obstruction" in front of her car "removed itself", the car thought whoopee and floored it.

Easily done, I'm sure?

BJ

[swill453]

Relevant article on the BBC today

'The most significant development since the safety belt'
...
since the Volvo XC90 went on sale in the UK in 2002 it has sold over 50,000 vehicles, yet not a single person has been killed while driving it, or as a passenger

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43752226

Scott.