Speed-reading car here by end of 2010

The car that can read speed signs will be on Australian roads within months -- two years after it was introduced in Europe.

BMW unveiled the technology on its new 7 Series limousine in late 2008, but its local introduction was delayed while engineers tested it on Australian roads, before submitting the system to Australian regulators in the past couple of months.

The system has finally been approved, after thousands of kilometres of testing in major capital cities, including Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.

BMW Australia product planner Toni Andreevski told the Carsales Network overnight: "Speed limit recognition technology has passed the [Australian Design Rule] process and we will have it here on selected cars by the end of this year."

BMW declined to nominate which models will get the big brother break-through first.

But the Carsales Network understands that the system will be available in November 2010 as an option on the top-end models of the 7 Series and 5 Series sedans, as well as the flagship version of the recently facelifted BMW X5 soft-roader. A price for the option has not yet been set.

Significantly, the BMW system has been calibrated to read Australia's unique, cluttered, school zone speed signs -- including the digital flashing warning signs -- but it is not quite sophisticated enough to distinguish what time of day the 40km/h limit is enforceable. That will still be up to the driver.

In another development, the camera mounted in the windscreen will also be able to detect digital, variable speed limit signs on gantries above the road. But some old-style portable speed signs used in road works cannot be read.

The system has an 80 per cent success rate of identifying speed limit signs in its field of vision.

It continuously 'searches' for speed limit signs that have black numbers inside a red ring on a white background. But because some of Australia's speed signs are not to international standards, modifications had to be made to accommodate the digital and school zone signs.

The system also uses information from the car's navigation unit, which has most speed limits pre-programmed.

But the signs that the car recognises take precedent when it comes to warning the driver. 

The owner's manual says drivers should not rely on the advice of the speed alert, it is merely a "supplementary" device.

BMW also says that, although the technology exists, it will not take control away from the driver or slow the car to the sign-posted speed.

"At BMW, we want drivers to be in control. We are simply giving them information to enable them to make better decisions," says Andreevski.

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