In March, OPP stopped two men for speeding in the GTA: One driver was clocked at 227 km/h on the 401 and the other at 254 km/h on the 403. Crashes at this speed can rival any staged crash in an action movie. In 2016, when a woman crashed on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto, she may have been driving at 180 km/h, twice the posted speed limit. The vehicle’s power train ended up on the roadway, the top and bottom halves had separated, and door skins had come off. Would speed limiters in these vehicles have prevented these drivers from reaching these speeds?
How Speed Limiters Work
Basically, speed limiters are connected to the engine’s computer and prevent the car from reaching top speeds. Once sensors report that a vehicle is traveling faster than it’s allowed to (based on the manufacturer’s specifications, not road signs), it signals to the engine to reduce the flow of air and possibly also the sparks that create combustion.
Limiting Vehicle Speed in the European Union
In March, the European Union announced that all new vehicles must have speed limiters by 2022. In addition, cars will need reverse cameras and crash recorders (so-called “black boxes” and some telematics devices). Proponents hail the new law as a new dawn for road safety, while opponents fear it may increase driver complacency. Used cars will not need to be retrofitted, and drivers can temporarily override the new safety equipment.
Although Ontario law requires a speed limiter be installed and set at 105 km/h for commercial motor vehicles, there currently are no such requirements for personal vehicles. An online search also didn’t show any results suggesting one was in the works.
Volvo’s Quest for Safety
Famous for inventing the seat belt, Volvo announced in March that it will limit all vehicles to 180 km/h beginning in 2020.
“The company’s Vision 2020, which aims for no one to be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo by 2020, is one of the most ambitious safety visions in the automotive industry,” the company says in a statement. “But realising that technology alone will not get it all the way to zero, Volvo Cars is now broadening its scope to include a focus on driver behaviour.”
Until We’re Built Like Graham…
You may remember Graham, the car-proof man: he’s ugly and brutish-looking and likely someone who’d scare the kids. He’s also a theoretical look at what humans might look like if we’d evolved to withstand car crashes. He has no neck, for example, and his extra-thick skull has built-in “crumple zones” if you will, and those are only a few of his physical charms.
But we’re not like him. So, instead, we have safety devices in our cars, like car seats for babies and small children, reverse cameras, warning systems, and speed limiters to help us stay alive while we’re on the road.