Speed limits
Renault CEO Luca De Meo recently announced that Renault’s future vehicles will be limited to a top speed of 180 km / h, thus following the direction that Volvo has taken for a couple of years now. The reason for the decision is twofold: safety and respect for the environment, two reasons that could hide a third element linked mainly to a more technical limit, but let's go in order.Speed is one of the main causes of road accidents ; a vehicle launched at a high speed takes longer to stop than one at 130 km / h. To give you an example, according to what AlVolante colleagues measured, a Clio RS 2020 takes 37 meters and 64 meters to stop respectively from a speed of 100 and 130 km / h. The braking distances increase disproportionately and the violence of the impact is such as to make the safety systems practically inadequate. In fact, EuroNCAP tests are carried out at a predetermined speed which is much lower than that which can be reached by most vehicles.
If it is true that 95% of accidents occur due to human error, it is speed and its erroneous evaluation that ultimately determines the dangerousness of a situation.
Furthermore, even if marginally, the engines pushed to maximum speed (and number of revolutions) tend to generate a quantity of CO2 emissions higher than the average and therefore not be green. The technical limit that would be hidden behind Renault's decision would concern the electric range which, as we know, tends to drop dramatically at high speeds. For this reason, therefore, the French brand may have decided to apply an almost 360-degree speed limit, standardizing the strategy, including both the cars that would suffer the most in terms of autonomy, and the endothermic variants.
But why really 180 km / h and not 150? Here there is no real answer but the only suggestion that comes to mind concerns a purely psychological factor. Buying a car limited to 130 km / h could mean buying a "slow" car, barely capable of getting the maximum achievable (by law) on the highway. If on the one hand the value of speed is an aspect that has disappeared from promotional materials, precisely to improve driver awareness, on the other hand a too small figure could create a boomerang effect.
It remains to be seen whether the block imposed by Renault will be purely software, like Volvo's, or will act more mechanically; after all, the brand produces cars that wink at even one of its most racist and some enthusiasts may feel limited in this regard.
West U plans to lower speed limits across city roads
West University Place officials are working to reduce the speed limit on the majority of city roads in early May.
The city council has approved the first of two readings of an ordinance that would reduce the prima facie speed limit to 25 miles per hour. The current speed limit is 30 miles per hour. The new speed limits could go into effect after the city council signs the second reading of the ordinance, which is scheduled for May 10.
The speed limit change comes after evaluating the traffic conditions of the city in late 2020 when residents started commuting to work again. At workshops on Feb. 8, and April 12, the City’s Traffic Engineer presented the speed and traffic data that was collected, which included crash data and pedestrian and bicycle incidents, and recommended the speed limit reduction.
The only streets exempt from the speed limit reduction are Buffalo Speedway, the 4100-4200 block of Bissonnet Street and streets that are already marked at 20 miles per hour, which includes roads near parks and in school zones.
Buffalo Speedway was not part of the traffic study and not included in the speed limit reduction. According to Public Works Director Gerardo Barrera, when the city applied for federal funding for the Buffalo Speedway reconstruction project, to be eligible, the speed limit could not be lower than 30 miles per hour. Lowering the speed limit on Buffalo Speedway would impact funding for the project.
At West U’s April 26 meeting, some residents who live on or near Weslayan Street spoke in support of the speed limit change but noted it wasn’t an end-all solution to make their street safer.
“I recognize that this change in the speed limit is not a silver bullet,” said resident Regina Nolan, “And I’ll continue to ask that the council continue to look at alternative creative strategies that I’ve previously outlined. I think that we’re all in agreement that if we can lower the speed limit, it can signal to vehicles that are cutting through our neighborhoods that this is an inefficient route in which to cut through and put at risk the lives of our children,” said Nolan.
The city is also looking at alternative ways to calm traffic, according to City Manager Dave Beach. When conducting street and drainage improvements, if the city finds a way to implement a traffic calming technique they will introduce it as part of a pilot program before redoing every street.
ryan.nickerson@hcnonline.com