Speed Limiters Will Kill Driving

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You’ve probably heard about what is being marketed as “speed limit assistance technology.” The italics to make a point of the fact about what is – as opposed to what they’re trying to get you to believe it is.

It is not about “assisting” you – just as you are not being “asked” to “pay your fair share” (an interesting assertion in that it is difficult to understand what constitutes a “fair share” of another person’s earnings).

It is about making you – in italics to make a point about the fact.

In this case, it is about making you drive no faster than whatever the speed limit is on any road you happen to be on. This is not going to be done – via technology – in order to “save lives.” That latter having about as much to do with it as “masking” did as far as “stopping the spread.”

Rather, speed is going to be controlled – in order to take away whatever little control remains in the hands of drivers, in order to exasperate them and thereby cause them to give up on driving.

Imagine what it will be like when your car won’t let you dive any faster than the government says you may. At first read that may seem – to some – to be a good thing, since it is “the law,” after all, to not drive faster than whatever the government says the speed limit is. Most people agree – understandably – that everything that can reasonably done to prevent people from ignoring laws that criminalize stealing (and so on) ought to be done.

But mark the italics.

There are many things that are illegal. Many of  these things are not criminal. They are just injunctions that, if ignored, will cause the individual who ignored them to be treated as if he were a criminal.

A cop does not ask you to “pull over.” If you do not pull over, he will treat you just the same as if you’d held up a 7-11 at gunpoint. It is the same with all laws, which “the law” requires us to obey. Well, except for cops – who are not required to obey speed laws. Or seatbelt laws. Or no-right-on-red laws.

Anyhow, the point is that there’s a moral difference between actions such as exceeding the speed limit and stealing. In law, it is expressed as malum in se (bad in itself, irrespective of legalities) and malum prohibtum (merely illegal).

All of us – well, most of us – know there is no moral harm, as such, in driving faster than the speed limit, which we express (most of us) by “speeding” regularly. If “speeding” were malum in se and most of us did it then you’d have probable cause for saying most of us are criminals.

That’s absurd, of course.

We “speed” because it often reasonable – and not “unsafe” –  to drive faster than whatever the speed limit arbitrarily happens to be. Italicized to emphasis the point I’m about to make. For about 20 years – from circa 1974 to circa 1994 – the National Maximum Speed  Limit (NMSL) decreed by the federal government was 55 MPH.

On the highway.

It had previously been much higher than that. Most states had highway speed limits in the 65-70 MPH range. At the stroke of a pen – literally – the maximum legally allowable speed became 55. What had been perfectly legal speed the day prior had become – just like that – illegal “speeding.”

This is the very definition of arbitrary.

Enforceable arbitrary. Drivers who’d been within the law the day before were treated as criminals the day after the law – and for the next 20 years, until the NMSL was finally repealed, in one of the very few instances of the federal government agreeing to take back (in kid lingo) something it had imposed.

Driving became enjoyable again because reasonable driving – at reasonable speeds – could be done again without the constant dread of being targeted for enforcement by an armed government worker.

One who wasn’t going to “ask” you to “pull over.”

The NMSL was part of the effort to get people to hate driving (and make them pay for it) but it failed – in part because it was hard to enforce. More finely, it was hard to enforce generally. On all drivers, all the time. An armed government worker could only “pull over” one car at a time. It was still feasible to “speed” and so most of us did, even if we knew it was just a matter of time before we got “pulled over.” The rest of the time we could drive – and that made it worth driving.

Imagine your car enforcing the speed limit. All the time. Every time. Imagine the end of driver discretion. Imagine no longer being able to safely merge with other traffic because its going too fast and your car won’t let you get-going fast enough to merge safely. Imagine not being able to “speed” around a semi-truck that can’t even do the speed limit. Or get out of the way of something that’s otherwise going to hit you, by flooring the accelerator pedal – and not getting any acceleration.

Imagine not being able to go – at all – because that is ultimately exactly where this is headed. The car that can prevent you from “speeding” can also prevent you from driving at any speed.

That’s the form of “assistance” that’s coming. That’s already here. Most 2025 model year vehicles already come standard with such “assistance” and by 2029 it will be mandatory.

By which time, most of us will probably rather walk.

Which is precisely what those behind all of this intend – and have been working on for at least the past half-century.

. . .

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50 COMMENTS

  1. A 1000 feet per second velocity bullet couldn’t kill Donald Trump. Evidently, another Palestinian slated for elimination. Doesn’t matter where they are anymore.

    There is a speed limit when a rifle is fired.

    Whether or not America is withering and dying on the vine, not the point, it’s not.

    What is withering and dying on the vine? The left and their gluttony, libertine madness.

    The maelstrom of the malaise is here. It will soon be gone.

    Democrats? What Democrats? We don’t need no steeeen-king Demonrats!

    It’s summer, the living is easy.

    • Not right away. It will take decades for that effect to flow to the towns, who will have found other means of extorting revenue from the plebes, unless the covid stabs start taking massive effect in a few years.

  2. This is what is really behind the Electric Car push….they know we don’t have the grid structure, and WON’T have it, to actually implement electric cars within this (or probably any other) generation. Also they do not address the various dangers of these cars including the many dangers of the batteries, even their very toxicity. The point of gradually mandating electric cars, which so many can not even afford, will be to STOP PEOPLE FROM DRIVING AND PRIVATE VEHICLE OWNERSHIP. Only the elites will have cars & be allowed to drive. The overall goal is a return to pre-1776 feudalism and to do away entirely with democracy and republics. They want a hereditary global elite who will run and control everything which is what we had everywhere in the world for thousands of years before the American Revolution made the concept of government BY THE PEOPLE a real thing. They want to end this and go back to what really is the “traditional” model of control by elites. And now they have high tech to enable them. Everything they do is towards this overarching goal and it is pretty much the unstated goal of the World Economic Forum that trains so many of our “leaders”.

  3. I’m putting my faith in nerds. Some enterprising and clever people will develop the means to disable these “features.” And if enough of us pay them, there is no way the cops will get everyone.

    • On my newer Camry, I noticed the camera is behind the rear view mirror. I have often wondered if simply placing a piece of duct tape over the lens (on the wind shield) will solve the problem? After all, the speed limiter cannot force you to go 55 in a 55 mile an hour zone, if the camera cannot read the speed limit signs.

  4. I believe there is a “check engine” dashboard light that illuminates when your emissions system is not functioning properly. That info is now easily transmitted to the central system. They can then require you to get your car “repaired” in 24 hours instead of ignore it. OR they can turn your car off and fine you appropriately.

  5. My diesel truck is limited on ‘fancy stuff’. The battery runs the lights, winch and phone charger. NO computers, no electronic sensors, relays, circuits or problems. No smog extras, no anti-anything but a secret fuel valve that keeps it safe away from home. No limit on speed but my wisdom and bad roads.
    Keep it simple and away from the government and everything is just fine.

  6. Women crave HUGE government.

    Women vote to be taken care of, narcissistic personal gain. All paid and sacrificed for by men, that women vote into war while not having ANY female gender roles enforced on women.

    Women voting is a catastrophe for any society that allows it, as many men and women knowingly warned America BEFORE women got the ‘right’ to vote without the imposition of serving in the military, as men still are. Which is an historical standard.

    Except muh eekwalitee.

    This is why American women have over a hundred rights that men don’t have and men have no rights that women don’t have. IRREFUTABLE FACT

    America is a gynocentric matriarchy, obviously.

    The only way it could be worse for men is if every man had a leash around his neck.

    • Being a woman and a Self Sovereign being, I take exception to your thinking. I am still driving and repairing my 2001 standard drive Maxima SE as I refuse to drive an appliance. As for government, I think George Carlin laid it out perfectly.
      ““I have certain rules I live by. My first rule: I don’t believe anything the government tells me. Sooner or later the people in this country are going to realize: the government does not give a fuck about them. The government doesn’t care about you, or your children, or your rights, or your welfare, or your safety. It simply doesn’t give a fuck about you. It’s interested in its own power. That’s the only thing, keeping it and expanding it wherever possible.”

        • My epiphany was at the age of 10 1/2 after a severe adverse reaction to a vaccine. I think the motto of the Royal Society is an appropriate one to hold onto through this incarnation.

          Nullius in verba: “Take nobody’s word for it.”

      • Unfortunately, you are the rare exception. In my experience, most of the ladies out there value safety and compassion over freedom. I don’t blame them, they are wired that way. It has helped us as a species to thrive. Now things are different. Large groups of compassionate female safety cultists find themselves to have great power to direct society. So much so, that they are raising boys to think the same way. Hence, here we are.

  7. If I could post memes here, I’d share the black guy pointing to his head with the caption, “Can’t control your speed if your car doesn’t have any computers”

    Why they hate older cars, they can’t control them and that puts a hamper on their plans for all us

  8. FAR past time to become completely ungovernable.
    These lizards work for us not vice versa.
    Refuse to comply.
    Resist.
    Irish Democracy every day until they make that impossible and then revolution.
    Enough!

    • Nice list. Its an excellent start. The best part is it requires none of the ‘throw yourselves on the gears of tyranny’ we normally hear from the rhino crowd. Just sit back with some popcorn, cold brews, sweet smoke and enjoy the schadenfreude.

      • Schadenfreude can be semi-orgasmic these days. Non compliance with BS is the new patriotism, but don’t be stupid about it.

        • Non compliance and becoming ungovernable for me is an ongoing process, not an event. Still have a ways to go.

  9. Speed limiters won’t just kill driving. It will kill people. Imagine volunteer firefighters or ambulance personnel responding to a call being unreasonably delayed (when minutes count). Added passing danger due to restricted speed is irresponsible. FJB.

  10. I drive an older diesel pickup. I do it for reliability. Newer engines, gas or diesel, electronically controlled, after a few years, always have some component failing. Eventually you’ll be on the roadside waiting for a tow truck. Code readers don’t always point to the failed component. Even the dealer can’t always repair newer vehicles without replacing several unnecessary parts.
    So I bought an older, mechanically controlled, diesel pickup. I had everything rebuilt and replaced all running parts that wear. With new paint and upholstery I have a like new pickup that will give me many years of reliable service. And I can rebuild it indefinitely. What I don’t have is a new style, a high personal property tax, and and a speed limiter.
    The new, old truck tows and hauls anything my newer truck did and cost tens of thousands less than a new unreliable truck. It gets better mileage, too.

    • I have gradually deleted every electronic control on my ’99 Powerstroke. It’s now a manual diesel with half a million miles on it.

  11. What happens if your spouse has a heart attach in the car, and you are less than fifteen miles from the hospital? Are you going to drive the speed limit to the emergency room? Or worse, be required to pull over and wait for the ambulance? This sounds like a law suit ready made.

  12. Govt leeches (libtards) will give your country away long as they’re fed sugar, are entertained and get everything for free. Copsuckers who back the blue nmw are the reason our govt has grown out of control. Females will give your country away long as they avoid any conflict and are brainwashed that their safety and security are guaranteed. Even to the point of prostituting themselves for it. You can thank them for tyranny in the US.

    • Hi Klown,

      “Safetyism” is among the root causes of the problems that ail us. This neurotic fixation on risk-avoidance is stifling everything worth living for.

  13. Well it’s factually not true. The initial dropping of the speed limit wasn’t to make people hate driving it was because of energy conservation and the belief that you used less gas at 55 then 70 which is technically accurate. This was imposed during the oil shortage which was a man made crisis but none the less this was about conservation not trying to make people hate driving. The current efforts to control the speed limit also won’t deter people from driving and the assertion is utterly absurd. If you have to go from point a to point b and you have a choice to drive slower, or take a bus or walk 99% of the people are still going to prefer to drive and have their own vehicle and do things on their own schedule.

    While it may and likely is another power grab by the goverment as a means to control every aspect of our lives it’s intention is not to make people hate driving because given the options it won’t work.

    This is clearly an opinion piece that get’s it wrong.

    • Hi Doug,

      You’re right that – initially and very briefly – the NMSL was touted as an “energy conservation” measure. But that changed almost immediately to a “safety” measure.

      • Yes. Ot did. On or before 9/74, they were already touting that. It was a lie, of course, since traffic deaths declinedon every single road category, not just those affected by the 55 mph speed limit.

    • Doug, you are naive and clearly wrong.

      The psychological aspects on humanity of government’s desire for absolute control are an irrefutable historical fact.

      Your ignorant ‘99% of people will continue to drive’ is nonsense. We don’t have that now. Even if you meant 99% of those driving now will continue to drive is also nonsense. As that percentage has been dropping bc of the cost of car ownership.

      ‘For your safety’ is a disingenuous motto used by beaurocrats for millennia to grab power. Exasperating the dissenters is always their goal.

      Did you get the clot shot too?🤔

    • The government’s stated reasons for the squashing of freedom is irrelevant.

      Whatever freedom the people enjoy, you can bet that the government has people in it’s employ whose job it is to curtail said freedom. To government, freedom is a loophole that must be closed.

      The war on driving is just one front in the war on freedom.

  14. Several years ago I had a rental car in Florida that was equipped with a speed limiter by the rental company that was set at 75mph. Almost got me rear-ended while passing a semi, all of a sudden the dashboard starts flashing red and I can feel the car backing off; luckily it was going uphill so the semi was slowing down and I was able to get past saaaaaafely, but that situation was anything but safe. More proof that the PTB are only using “safety” as a means of control. Never rented from that company again but looks like it won’t matter if all the new cars come equipped with this nanny crap.

  15. All you will need in your 15 minute urban space might be an electric rickshaw. You can buy one at Alibaba.

    For 1900 dollars, one can be yours. Buy two, use one for a taxi.

    Plenty of models to choose from at Alibaba.

    You will save 45,999 dollars by avoiding a stupid device with four wheels.

    Might think about buying a good used ICE vehicle, they really can do the job.

  16. My neighbor got a “speeding ticket” Saturday. Our local thin blue line tried to pull the “I smell alcohol” shit on him. He was like, dude it’s eight in the morning.

    I explained to the neighbor this was just their bullshit to given them an excuse to search his redneck rich lifted Toyota Tundra.

    Needless to say, he was pissed. I’m not sure how much the “fine”. Whatever the amount it’s legalized extortion based on the egregious sin of going 40 in a 30 at 8 in the morning.

    How the town will further enrich itself when AI controlled eeeeveeees take over driving is beyond me. I’m sure even at a small-ish local government level the bastards will think of something.

    • I think the cops will quietly protest any laws that lock down speed. It’s too lucrative. Not to mention the added benefit of having the criminal come to you. How many times has someone been pulled over, only to randomly find some actual crime? Sure, not very often, but so much police work is just random happenstance and criminals making a mistake.

      Take away the traffic stop and they might actually need to start policing real crime.

      • “I think the cops will quietly protest any laws that lock down speed. It’s too lucrative.”

        The police were vehemently opposed to Alabama’s Constitutional carry, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters, because of “saaaaafety”. After we became officially Constitutional carry, all the county sheriff departments loudly complained about the significant drop in revenue from the pistol permit fees.

        When it comes to government at any leve, it’s never about safety and never is. It’s strictly about revenue. And it doesn’t matter what the “it” is.

      • This is being pushed by the globablists. The cops will have no say in it. The “cops” have no stake in revenue it’s the governments that employ the cops that do. Those governments will be answering and rewarded richly by the WEF and the globablists to push their agenda. The game is chess not checkers. YOu are playing with the wrong pieces.

  17. ‘By which time, most of us will probably rather walk.’ — eric

    Motorcycles will be the last redoubt of resistance to algorithmic speed control. They are a lower priority for the tyrannical control freaks.

    Autos at this point are damaged goods. They are chip-studded, nanny-state crap. Job #1 is to kill off as many auto makers as possible, when the recession unfolds next year.

    We don’t need no regulation
    We don’t need no speed control
    No dark sarcasm in the fedgov
    Shulman* leave them cars alone
    Hey! Shulman! Leave them cars alone!

    — Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2

    ‘Sophie Shulman,’ acting administrator of NHTSA

  18. Just another reason not to purchase a new car. There are plenty of very nice 2015 or earlier cars to buy – and even if the car needs some work, it would still be cheaper than to buy a new vehicle.
    I recently received a letter from the local VW Dealer inviting me to come in and see the new electric and electrified models. Within the invitation was the E-mail of the sales person who could assist me with purchase options or any questions I had. I wrote back saying, “No thanks. Your vehicles have become huge 4 Door Automatics with electric handbrakes. I bought my last VW when you stopped offering the Twin Turbo Diesel with a 6 speed handshift.” I know my E-mail will make no difference but it made me feel better.

  19. These Little Stalins are the very kind that are drawn to GovCo. The ability to make people submit to your will is their ultimate turn-on. The fags in leather are the perfect metaphor. They are sociopaths.

    The only reason you need a government is to deal with sociopaths that will hit you and take your things, you know, in order to secure our Rights governments are instituted among men. Ironically, it is the one institution that fits sociopaths the best.

    It sounds to me that in order to maintain civilization we need to eliminate that which coddles sociopaths and find other ways to deal with this tiny sliver of humanity.

    • As I have said many times, all governments are founded on their assumption of authority to kill you if you disobey. Which is the ideal environment for sociopaths. Which is why all governments are eventually saturated with them. Which the FedGov is now.
      About one in ten is a psychopath. Which means about one in twenty you meet is one, because at least half of them live in DC.

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