Hyundai'2015 genesis will automatically brake for speed!

Hyundai’s 2015 Genesis will automatically brake for speed cameras!

The car will have a built-in map of speed cameras and average speed cameras, and then use a combination of GPS and its fancy Automatic Emergency Braking technology to brake if you’re still going over the speed limit when you reach the camera. While this feature is probably legal, it does appear to go against the spirit of speed cameras; after all, if you can just keep your foot down, and rely on the car to automatically brake for speed cameras, that’s hardly very safe, right?

Hyundai’s new speed trap avoidance tech seems to be a late addition to the 2015 Genesis. When we reviewed the car back in April — and awarded it the ExtremeTech Editors’ Choice award for midsize sedans no less – there was no mention of the clever Automatic Emergency Braking being used to hoodwink speed cameras. Speaking to the Australian website Drive, Hyundai says the new speed camera tech won’t be available at launch, but instead will be added later.

A speed camera, like you might find in the UK

Functionally the tech is very simple — and it makes me wonder why no other car maker has implemented it before now. Basically, the 2015 Genesis is loaded up with a big list of speed camera locations. When you come within 800 meters (half a mile) of a speed camera (measured via GPS), the car will show you the speed limit and beep if you’re going too fast. If you’re still breaking the speed limit when you reach the camera, the car’s Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) tech will kick in, ensuring you don’t get a ticket. It isn’t entirely clear where Hyundai is getting its speed camera location data from, but it’s probably SCDB (a crowdsourced speed camera database) or something similar.

Using AEB — a road safety feature that prevents collisions with pedestrians and other vehicles — to dodge speed traps seems a little bit counterintuitive. If the tech actually works as Hyundai describes, you’ll basically be able to barrel along at any speed you like, and then have the car forcibly slow you down just before the speed camera. Presumably you could keep your foot on the gas the entire time, and except for a brief second or two of whiplash as you pass the camera you wouldn’t notice a thing. Watch the video below; AEB is pretty awesome.