Nice geofencing program you got there, Ford!
Speed kills, or so we’re told repeatedly by people who don’t want to talk about driver distraction much anymore. That attitude seems to be embodied in Ford’s new forced speed compliance experiment being run in Germany. Called the Geofencing Speed Limit Control system, it yet again a company pushing the idea of a utopian society brought about through the use of authoritarian technology.
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Just imagine a city where no speed limit signs are present because each car is forced to not exceed the limit. Sounds pretty great, right? That’s the ultimate vision of this Blue Oval experiment being run in Cologne, Germany.
In the official press release, Ford draws a direct parallel between speeding and the death of pedestrians and cyclists in Europe. That seems to make sense since drivers have more time to react if someone steps out in front of their vehicle.
This forced speed limit adherence is also supposed to improve traffic flow in cities. Relying on the old argument that speed causes accidents, Ford reasons that by limiting how fast drivers can make their car go, crashes will become far less frequent.
What’s really exciting about this automotive innovation is learning how the tech works. Ford excitedly explains how each car connects to a geofencing system in the city. That means the government can track where you are while also extracting data from your vehicle. Just think of the possibilities as you’re forced to do what’s right. For starters, you’ll never have to show your papers to authorities again since they can just access such things from your car while it’s being moved in a very controlled manner. To have a government that cares so much about your safety to control exactly how you get around to the most minute detail is truly a blessing.
Even more exciting, Ford’s talking the possibility of dynamic speed limits. That means how fast you’re allowed to go changes depending on “local hazards, temporary road works and the time of day.” We sure haven’t seen governments abuse emergencies and such at all, so this should work out super great.
However, the best argument for the institution of these types of authoritarian technologies is that drivers are too overwhelmed by road signs. Ford points out just how many different signs are used in Germany, not to mention other countries. Expecting people to read and pay attention to all those while they’re texting back their girlfriend and tapping the touchscreen 15 times just to change the cabin air temperature just isn’t realistic. Thankfully, technology is here to rescue us from ourselves being distracted by technology, thus making for a brighter, utopian-like society. Be sure to thank Ford for promoting such responsible programs as geofence forced speed limit controls.
