How often have you been driving up to or, worse still, right past a speed camera and suddenly faced a couple of seconds of blind panic because you don’t know what the speed limit is? You recklessly slam on the brakes even though you were only doing 30mph anyway. And, it turns out, you’re on the motorway anyway so you could have sped up a little if you’d wanted?
In truth, speed cameras cause that same panic in a lot of drivers and they rarely carry their own speed limit sign. Vauxhall is attempting to remedy the situation using high definition on-board (on-board your car, that is) cameras. They take 30 pictures a second, and can then determine the maximum speed from the last sign you passed by using image recognition software. The resulting speed is then displayed on the dash of your car so you never need suffer again.
When released, the Vauxhall Insignia will feature this pretty impressive piece of kit and if it proves popular then it will almost certainly be rolled out to other models. Whether it will be an option or it will be included straight out of the bargain bag we don’t know but pretty cool nevertheless.
Maybe the department of transport should pay for all cars to have them fitted – after all, preventing speeding is all about raising awareness and educating drivers isn’t it? Rather than slap up speed cameras everywhere and take retroactive action they could make us aware and educate us.
Feel free to start your own petition and count me in as a guaranteed signatory.
