Transport committee road safety inquiry

[Dixy]

The Government seems to be being proactive and openly requesting suggestions as to how road safety can be improved.

https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/comm...

Some interesting comments, particularly interesting that their twitter feed notes 3 very different organisations

https://twitter.com/CommonsTrans/status/1121444850...

[Dixy]

Disappointing that having an opportunity to comment when it will actually make a difference so few have chosen to do so.

What would you suggest.

[Etypephil]

Dixy said:

Disappointing that having an opportunity to comment when it will actually make a difference so few have chosen to do so.

What would you suggest.

Perhaps a little publicity would have helped.

I read the limited (numerically and intellectually) comments, the most horrifying of which is, imo:

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Written evidence submitted by Michael J Edwards (RSA0007)

"Controlling high performance road vehicles.

Performance limiting of road vehicles has to-date concentrated almost exclusively on maximum speed, when, I believe, acceleration is at least as important in regard to safety, and that legislation which relies on driver knowledge and respect for limits is not sufficient, and that controls incorporated in the vehicle are a more effective approach. I think that all new cars should automatically:

1). Limit the Maximum vehicle Speed

2). Set a limit to available acceleration! This should be the actual rate of acceleration available at any time, as measured by an on-board devices .

Acceleration is determined by the surplus of available power over that required to maintain a constant speed relative to vehicle weight . The constant-speed power requirement is predominantly influenced by tyre rolling resistance and wind resistance both of which increase with speed. Road inclination is an additional factor. Ignoring the effect of downhill the greatest acceleration is available at low speed, and low vehicle weight.

Modern cars are very well equipped to employ automatic limiting systems as they already have electronic control of the engine and where applicable the gearbox using inputs from a range of sensors continuously monitoring a wide range of engine and other vehicle conditions. These are primarily used to optimize engine efficiency, control exhaust emissions, and to provide a degree of engine protection. Instantaneous speed sensing is used in the Cruise Control and Speed Warning devices fitted to many vehicles which also receive speed limit information from the satellite navigation system.

Control of speed AND acceleration would be an extension of these techniques by software rather than an additional system.

There would no doubt be an outcry from many of those who make, sell or drive high-performance cars, but would this be justified? Controlling acceleration by these means would deny the driver the availability of high levels of engine power at low speed such as produce extreme and dangerous acceleration. However, there would still be an advantage in having an engine which was powerful in relation to total vehicle weight. Acceleration would be maintained when heavily loaded, it would also still be available on uphill inclines, at higher speeds, or in any combination of these factors, all conditions which in which generous engine power can be safely deployed by a responsible driver. The greatest performance restriction would occur at low speeds and when the vehicle was lightly loaded when very high engine power would not be available, preventing an irresponsible driver deploying dangerous rates of acceleration.

It also makes sense to restrict absolute maximum speed. It could be set slightly higher than the national speed limit, retaining the onus on the driver to obey the law on roads where no local speed limit is set and where speed would not be controlled by on-board systems. Maximum speeds of twice the national limit, which very many high performance cars can achieve and indeed three times the limit which a few now approach, are very hard to justify.

The actual values for Speed (Vmax) & Acceleration (g.) would obviously be subject to debate. I would suggest 85MPH and 0.3g (3.3m/S²). The value for acceleration is actually fairly high and is typical of the maximum acceleration available to a wide range of medium size cars (~2,0 litre 130-160bhp). Many small engined cars are unable to achieve this rate of acceleration and vehicles which fall below the limit value would not require acceleration control.

Some might argue for an even lower acceleration limit. A value which restricted all vehicles to the low speed (0 – 50 MPH) acceleration typical of current small to medium sized cars perhaps. It could be argued this would produce benefits in addition to safety. These would include a reduction in fuel consumption, lower exhaust emissions and reduced noise, with no reduction in practical usability. More powerful cars would still be at an advantage in terms of hill climbing ability and the impact of heavy loads on performance.

There are obviously many issues to consider regarding the introduction of such legislation. It might be argued that a speed limiter would deny drivers the opportunity to exploit their performance when driving abroad in countries where the speed limit is higher or where there is no restriction. All European countries have speed limits which are similar to those in the UK. In the oft quoted case of Germany and its unrestricted Autobahns, in fact most of Autobahn network now does have limits, the highest of these is 130 KPH, about 81 MPH.

The bottom line is: What is the purpose of a private car used on public roads, is it to provide safe transportation or an exiting experience? There really can be no justification for the rates of acceleration and maximum speed now achieved by an increasing number of cars.

The introduction of such measures might change the attitude of car manufacturers of all types who despite legislation designed to avoid emphasising speed in car advertising, still manage to convey the image of higher performance vehicles as both desirable and exiting."

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I suppose that he meant exciting.:-)

Perhaps all car forum members should add their views.

"The deadline for submissions is Thursday 18th April, but the Committee will still accept submissions after this date."

Come on chaps, and chapessess, and publicise this wherever else you post.