[ChiragM]

In a bid to reduce the number of road accidents, the government introduced a raft of mandatory measures, some of which came into force in April 2019. The initiatives include a speed warning system which is designed to beep when a certain speed is crossed. This rule mandates that all new cars sold from July 1, 2019, should have this safety feature.



When the car crosses 80 km/h, the speed warning system beeps once (in some cars, we've heard it beep twice every 60 seconds). When the car crosses 120 km/h, it beeps continuously. Here are a couple of videos showing how the speed alert system works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcCXaX0ZAkA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KXSAjZAqV8

Do these 80 / 120 km/h speed alerts discourage you from driving at higher speeds? Let us know what you feel about this system.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Safety Section. Thanks for sharing!

I find the 80 kmph alert highly irritating as 80 kmph feels pedestrian on today's expressways (many Indian expressways even allow you to cruise @ 100 kmph). Won't argue with the 120 km/h beeping as no Indian highway has speed limits higher than that. Handling a car over 120 kmph is also beyond the skills of an average driver (especially if you bring in weather, emergency situations, top-heavy UVs etc.).

I drive multiple new cars every month and it's interesting to see how differently manufacturers are implementing the speed warnings. Some brands have made the alerts loud & prominent, others have kept it at such a normal level that it's easily drowned out by the audio system.

[deep4u]

Though my current car does not has this feature enabled, I would definitely like to have this feature. I drive through Kerala roads and many times I unknowingly cross 80km speed. I believe none of the roads in Kerala is safe enough for such speeds since vehicle as well as population density is so high and added to that non-disciplined driving and narrow roads. For those using multi-laned roads and expressways, it is entirely different scenario. In my opinion, the owner should have the option to set these speed limits in order to alert him/herself.

[humyum]

I don't have a car which has the beep as mine is a 2008 model, but just thinking about the beeps that will hammer my ear on every road trip, I am aghast that how utterly stupid the government can be to make manufacturers implement something like this specially when some highways have their speed limits at 100 kmph and some plan to increase that to 120 kmph, how will they take care of the beeps then?

Maturity is to enforce the speed limit rules not hand over everything to some other guys plate and in turn harass the end user.

[SS-Traveller]

I'm just glad the government did not mandate a 120-kmph speed limiter, and just asked for a buzzer. I usually do not cruise above 120 kmph, but for those rare overtaking moments, I have triggered off the continuous beep in my Ciaz a couple of times - knew it was coming, so wilfully ignored it. However, when the cruise control is set to 119 kmph, the actual GPS-indicated speed is 114 kmph - so that's how fast the government wants me to go. Fair enough, most countries have a maximum speed limit of 110-120 kmph on highways, and I'm not complaining. Australia has 110 kmph on most highways, but one is likely to get a ticket above 112 kmph - that's right, just a 2 kmph tolerance.

Mercifully, the 80-kmph beep in the Ciaz is muted, and can be drowned out with the music easily.

[padmrajravi]

Voted for Yes. Thankfully none of the cars I own have the buzzer or the limiter . But I have encountered the beeps in the self drive car rentals and it significantly reduces my tendency for speeding. I try to get to 80 as soon as possible and leave it there , just to avoid the annoying buzzer. This works even better when there are passengers ,because normally you don't want to make your passengers feel unsafe and tend not to activate the buzzers.

[The Rationalist]

I'm in support of this alarms. Unless the road infrastructure is safe for cars, 80 km/hr itself is dangerous. In my state 100 people get killed each day in road traffic accidents. While I'm someone who loves corners and drives spiritedly, I have to agree we are all breaking the laws often while driving. There are hardly many countries which allow speeds above 120 km/hr.

Even after all the adrenaline wastage, you won't save much time to be honest. For access controlled highways the speed limits can be raised, but how many of us will willingly drive within speed limits if we are given the choice? We have to look at the bigger picture, do we want to be a nation of uncivilised drivers or become a nation of responsible drivers?

[aargee]

Although I don't have a vehicle (very glad) that is equipped to hoot at 80 & 120, these are highly irritating things

I will welcome such moves only when, forget the city atleast on the highway, where I can simply cruise at 80 Kmph & drive peacefully till I hit the exit to reach my destination. Otherwise, these measures are pure irritations & are showcase work to avoid accidents!!

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by humyum

I am aghast that how utterly stupid the government can be to make manufacturers implement something like this specially when some highways have their speed limits at 100 kmph and some plan to increase that to 120 kmph, how will they take care of the beeps then?

If this rule means a few precious lives are saved across the length and breadth of India then I am happy to cope with a small auditory inconvenience occasionally. Given the complexity of implementing any law in the jungle that is India this is a sensible way to do it. If you don't plan on driving above 120 why the fuss.

Maturity is to enforce the speed limit rules not hand over everything to some other guys plate and in turn harass the end user.

Given that our population, inclined to breaking rules, is greater than the entire Western hemisphere we need creative solutions to prevent the rule breaking at source. It is not possible to have cops or cameras and radars across every road. Easy to say 'let them enforce the speed limit' - explain how it will be done in a land as complex, large and unruly as ours.

Folks, over speeding is a problem in our country especially while overtaking on highways. Before we get up in arms against the Govt lets pause and reflect exactly how many minutes or hours do we spend in a month driving at above 80 or driving at above 120.

[ghodlur]

For me the 80 Kmph buzzer does the the job both in the city as well as on the highways unless you know the stretch quite well and the traffic is ultra thin, then I push till the 120 mark. Before I reach there, more than the buzzer I hear my folks wildly screaming to slow down which does the job.

[Rajeevraj]

Personally considering it is a buzzer, I think it is acceptable. The 80kmph may be a little irritating as the speed is very normal on our highways. 120kmph Buzzer makes sense. Official speed limits around the world in most cases are in this range. So it makes sense to attempt to dissuade drivers to go beyond that.

To the poll question, within the 2 options, I would chose yes, but a more apt option for me would be 'Not Applicable'

My comfort zone is in the 100-110 range and buzzer or no buzzer I would typically be in that range.

Off Topic: I realized that my Vento had a speed buzzer setting recently when it got set at 30kmph by mistake. Had to spend some time to figure out how to disable it.

[sparameswaran]

My 2014 Linea T Jet has an optional Speed alert (beep plus display message) which I have set at 110kmph. Found it a useful thing, considering the fact that it is not really safe to drive faster on most of our roads. Not that I do not exceed this limit, but it reminds me that I am going too fast. Thankfully, it is not a continuous buzzer and just beeps once when the limit is exceeded.
I am of the opinion that the speed alert is a good thing, given the overall scheme of things in India.

[Brishti]

When I have family in the car and the 80kmph beep goes off everyone starts judging me, most of the times with vocal feedback.

The fact remains 80kmph is not that fast on good roads and having to defend my speed at every turn is rather dissuading.

[ashis89]

I voted Yes. I drive a WagonR without these warnings but their presence could be helpful to me.

Nowadays, a lot of our highways are a charm to drive - smooth, wide and sparse traffic. In such cases, it's easy to gain good speeds without intending to do so, especially in cars without cruise control.

Out on the best of highways, I define 100 km/h as my sweet spot to drive. And anything beyond 120 is unacceptable to me irrespective of the car I am driving, given the road conditions in our country. However, there are instances where I find myself going over 120 and then slow down immediately. I am sure these warnings would be very helpful to me.

If the warnings are slightly configurable, I would increase the first one to 90 km/h. This will inform me of the approaching ton mark and also take care of the ton mark speed limit that we have on few highways.

[shashank.nk]

I feel the warnings should've been at 100km/hr and the second one after one exceeds 120km/hr. It makes no sense to have a alert at 80km/hr when most highways are now vastly improved and barring a few sections, 80 km/hr cannot be considered too fast or dangerous. Luckily none of our existing cars have it, and if I continue to buy pre-owned, no worries in the immediate future too