New camera on Ngauranga Gorge - Adjustable limit?

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113 posts

Master Geek

#781611 14-Mar-2013 13:25

The electronics actually "change down" a gear or two or three when going downhill to maintain speed. Its always an interesting feeling!!. Going up a hill you see the tacho rise, go over the top and it drops and then it rises again to hold the car on the downhills. If it continues to increase then it drops another gear.

You can have quite fun playing with it all.
The actual gas pedal is only electronic and there is no connection to the engine. Same for stability control. Go round a bumpy corner and if a wheel loses traction then the car starts doing stuff to the individual brakes on each wheel.
Only reason you know it has happened is the hazard warning lights flash.

So I get in the car, Bluetooth connects and music on my phone starts playing. The navigation on the phone then tells me how to get to the next appointment I set in outlook at my desk.
Dial up the speed and a couple of hours later I turn up at the appointment within a couple or minus minutes.

Talk about lazy :)

Unfortunately my wife's new Nokia 920 will not connect to the cars Bluetooth and she is not happy about that.

Apparently a common problem with WP8 and many car s built in Bluetooth. She is not happy about that but it means I get the new car more often.

BlueShift

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#781615 14-Mar-2013 13:28

johnmo:

Unfortunately my wife's new Nokia 920 will not connect to the cars Bluetooth and she is not happy about that. Apparently a common problem with WP8 and many car s built in Bluetooth. She is not happy about that but it means I get the new car more often.

This is relevant to my interests - I'll start a new thread...

rayonline

1734 posts

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#781633 14-Mar-2013 13:49

When we had a 1.3L Familia going downhill when I put it into "2", it that was the highest next to D, made a howling noise. Reverted back to using brakes. But we only change brake pads every four or so years ... as told by the mechanic, no screeching noise ever heard ...

GregV

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Ultimate Geek

#781694 14-Mar-2013 15:19

Ignore the uphill/downhill speed limit difference for a bit. If the posted speed limit in one direction is adjustable remotely, is that linked in with the speed camera settings? Or are there two separate systems to be adjusted? I'd hate to be travelling the newly-posted higher limit, and still have the speed camera set at the lower limit

sbiddle

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#781698 14-Mar-2013 15:33

timmmay: How about just obeying the posted speed limits rather than trying to work out if you can break them, they're there for a reason.

The traffic management system in Wellington is a total joke. Nobody follows the speeds because there are plenty of times where they're set at completely ridiculous speeds. It's not uncommon to find them posted with 60km/h all the way from The Terrace tunnel to the interchange with no merging queues either for the Gorge or the Hutt and traffic doing the standard 100 km/h because there are no reasons for the lower limit.

Because of this nobody follows the limits, which when there are merging issues would assist in traffic management if people were following the an 80 km/h limit from The Terrace tunnel.

Queueing theory is something fascinating to study, it's also very helpful understanding networks!

sbiddle

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#781700 14-Mar-2013 15:39

The easy way to avoid a photo is just to get a number plate cover - you know the ones.. Many years ago the Police said they don't work and did a fantastic job of faking a photo shoot to prove it to the media by setting up a camera at a lesser angle than the usual 22.5 degrees so the plate was visible in the photo rather than being invisible.

Plate covers will also stop you getting a photo at night regardless of the angle sine CCTV (and these camera) requires a low pass filter to clearly see the number plate.

I'm not condoning speeding, jut protecting road law abiding road users from getting a ticket from other vehicles on the road! :-)

old3eyes

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#781865 14-Mar-2013 19:12

sbiddle:
timmmay: How about just obeying the posted speed limits rather than trying to work out if you can break them, they're there for a reason.

The traffic management system in Wellington is a total joke. Nobody follows the speeds because there are plenty of times where they're set at completely ridiculous speeds. It's not uncommon to find them posted with 60km/h all the way from The Terrace tunnel to the interchange with no merging queues either for the Gorge or the Hutt and traffic doing the standard 100 km/h because there are no reasons for the lower limit.

Because of this nobody follows the limits, which when there are merging issues would assist in traffic management if people were following the an 80 km/h limit from The Terrace tunnel.

Queueing theory is something fascinating to study, it's also very helpful understanding networks!

At least you guys don't have those ridiculous on ramp lights to contend with. Even when there is lite traffic these idiots have them turned on. Guess the public servants have to earn their pay somehow.

Regards,

Old3eyes

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Batman

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#781880 14-Mar-2013 19:27

why are there 2 different speed limits on one stretch of road? how weird!

plod

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#781887 14-Mar-2013 19:33

ajobbins:
freitasm:

I drive an automatic. When going downhill there I drop to 3 and it stays just under 80. No need to touch the brakes at all. Sometimes I move to the right lane because people in front of me are braking and doing less then 70km/h.

Not also Auto's can do this.

Some just have 1,2,D or L (Low),D etc. If you have a tiptronic type auto you could.

most autos have at least an overdrive button, try turning overdrive off while going down. Holds my car to 80 going down. Yes it's very easy to speed going up. Could quite comfortably break the speed limit when it was 100kph and that was in my MKII escort sport

sbiddle

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#781888 14-Mar-2013 19:34

joker97: why are there 2 different speed limits on one stretch of road? how weird!

The stretch of motorway from The Terrace Tunnel to Johnsonville on SH1 and just past the Ngauranga Interchange on SH2 has a TMS (traffic management system) and is a variable speed zone area, meaning the official speed limit is shown on the overhead screens. This speed limit will change depending on traffic volumes, with the goal of better managing traffic flow.

mckenndk

911 posts

Ultimate Geek

#781917 14-Mar-2013 20:37

Does the crash barrier obscure the number plate on the middle north bound lane?

Always thought that would be an issue if they did both directions

Dion

turnin

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#782013 14-Mar-2013 23:31

No, the camera is quite high.
It's just a couple of lazer pointers and a few stepper motors :) the software is the tricky bit, don't see any problem at all with multilane detection . I'm sure the autobahn usues multilane speedlimits.
As for cruise control, remember the old Commodores/Falcons or perhaps even some later model cars without G Sensors, go up a twisty steep hill in the wet without braking and you'll see why they warn against it. You might be traveling around a corner and the car naturally slowing as a result, the cruise control applies power to the driving wheels to maintain the speed, possibly causing an auto transmission to kickdown, front light, rear heavy understeer, or if the rear wheels break traction in tight corners oversteer. Not good for the not ready and they are not ready because of the cruise control in the first place. Seen it happen quite a few times. I reckon that if you are going to let electronics take a job off a driver then take over the whole job, or not at all. won't be long now.

Dratsab

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#782023 14-Mar-2013 23:50

mckenndk: Does the crash barrier obscure the number plate on the middle north bound lane?

Always thought that would be an issue if they did both directions

When I drove down the gorge in my car earlier today I specifically looked for this.
I stayed in the RH southbound lane and by the time I reached where the speed camera is, I could clearly see number plates of northbound cars in their RH lane. The best view appeared to be at around 100m downhill from the camera, near where a yellow traffic sign indicating a LH curve to southbound traffic is. Although the camera is mounted to left of the road, it is also significantly higher up than a car.

Later, when I drove back up the gorge I set the trip meter at the yellow sign and glanced down at it as I passed the camera. 100m seemed fairly bang on and the camera did appear to be directly at me as I passed the sign. Obviously a very subjective observation.

sbiddle: The easy way to avoid a photo is just to get a number plate cover

IIRC the laws were changed quite some time back to make these illegal.

Dratsab

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#782025 14-Mar-2013 23:52

turnin: As for cruise control, remember the old Commodores/Falcons or perhaps even some later model cars without G Sensors, go up a twisty steep hill in the wet without braking and you'll see why they warn against it. You might be traveling around a corner and the car naturally slowing as a result, the cruise control applies power to the driving wheels to maintain the speed, possibly causing an auto transmission to kickdown, front light, rear heavy understeer, or if the rear wheels break traction in tight corners oversteer. Not good for the not ready and they are not ready because of the cruise control in the first place. Seen it happen quite a few times.

This is exactly what happens with my '99 Falcon :-)

allan

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#782098 15-Mar-2013 09:26

sbiddle: The traffic management system in Wellington is a total joke. Nobody follows the speeds because there are plenty of times where they're set at completely ridiculous speeds. It's not uncommon to find them posted with 60km/h all the way from The Terrace tunnel to the interchange with no merging queues either for the Gorge or the Hutt and traffic doing the standard 100 km/h because there are no reasons for the lower limit.

Because of this nobody follows the limits, which when there are merging issues would assist in traffic management if people were following the an 80 km/h limit from The Terrace tunnel.

Queueing theory is something fascinating to study, it's also very helpful understanding networks!

Is it still run out of Auckland, the centre beside the Auckland Harbour Bridge? I know the cameras were originally monitored from there, but I had a feeling that it might have changed now.

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