The car Manufacturer, Ford is introducing what it calls Intelligent Speed Limiter technology on its newest edition of its S-Max cars.
This is obviously for those people who are speed demons who can’t keep their gas pedals off the metal:
The technology enhances the vehicle’s cruise control capabilities with cameras that are able to recognize posted speed limits.
The driver can specify a top speed to ensure they’re never accidentally speeding, but when the system is switched on it uses a dashboard-mounted camera to keep an eye on road signs with posted speed limits to automatically increase or decrease the vehicle’s allowed top speed accordingly
If the vehicle happens to exceed the set speed limit, like when picking up speed driving down a hill, an audible warning alarm is triggered and the vehicle’s engine stops getting fuel until it slows down enough.
It’s a smoother response than automatically slamming on the brakes which can be jarring to the passengers and other vehicles on the road.
At any time the driver can override the system by just tapping the accelerator, but at that point they’ll have to deal with the stresses of ensuring they’re not speeding.
“The system does not apply the brakes but smoothly controls engine torque by electronically adjusting the amount of fuel delivered,” the company said in a press release.
The technology seems to be a step in the direction of the driverless car, also known as an autonomous car.
