Why don't auto makers "lock" the speed after a certain limit? It could prevent accidents due to speeding.

Sanescience

If your talking about a law, two camps would object, libertarians who believe that would be excessive invasion of government into personal lives, and consumers that take their cars to tracks and legally drive as fast as they want to go.

There is also a great pile of case law going back to the founding of America that discourages "Nanny Laws". Although over the years several hot button issues have been the exception, like guns and taxes and abortion for a few examples.

Some cars today actually do have a governors, but they are usually set to protect the car from exceeding some design limitation (frequently tires) that let them save on production costs than to control driving habits.

mister ss

all new cars have a governor on them built into the computer that limits their top speed except high performance cars such as the corvette, viper, etc.

Joe K

Typcially amercians want to drive as fast as they can. Nobody will buy a car that is "locked" to the posted speed limits.

CowboyBill

People like you drive me nuts. The VAST majority of automobile accidents happen at or below 45 mph. The vast majority of accidents are caused by driver error, NOT speed. So would your solution be to install a speed limiter on vehicles at 40 mph, remove radios, cup holders and cell phones and bolt giant inflatable bumpers fore and aft on every car to prevent accidents? There are no 'governors' on modern cars. They are known as speed limiters and are programed into the EEC to prevent the engine from over-reving, NOT to limit speed.
Grow up.

Nissan51288

yeah tons of cars have them they are called govenors but they are at like 118mph typically. but some older one' like my 91 nissan sentra SE-R doesnt it can go 150mph stock you'll blow the engine if you do that stuff tho.

rob1963man

Locking the pedal (governor) at a certain speed would be dangerous.

If you're pulling out of an intersection and did not notice a car right on top of you, you may have to do an emergency maneuver to avoid the vehicle.

If your accelerator is locked at a certain level you may not be able to garner enough power out of the car to complete the emergency maneuver.

I"m sure you get the drift of it... it doesn't necessarily have to be that particular situation.

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The Deafening Silence

Sometimes they do. My ex-g/f used to have a chevy truck and it was locked out at 94 mph. The contrl is called a governor and most manufactuers use one. The thing is, high performance vehicles don't use them (Corvette, Mustang, etc) and alot of kids are into the whole street racing thing, and no how to either override the governor or remove it altogether.

Sandy G

Most cars do have a sensor that makes cars top out at certain speeds. My husband used to have one that even though the speedometer went to 120, it topped at 85. However, these sensors can be removed without any defect to the car or visible void on the warranty.

Greenio

Some cars do have this feature, but its set to something like 110mph, which is way too high. You'll probably get people complaining that you're taking away their right to be reckless.

Bill Brasky

most cars have goveners that are set at around 120 mph

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