ALL ABOUT SPEED GOVERNORS - KENYA LEGAL MATTERS

Kenya legal requirements

According to the law, speed limits in Kenya depend on type of settlement, road and vehicle. In trading centers, towns, municipalities and cities, the limit is 50km/h, elsewhere; it is 80km/h on single carriageway highways and 110km/h on dual carriageways. The limit is 30km/h near schools.

What is a Speed Governor/Speed Limiter.

A speed limiter is a governor used to limit the top speed of a vehicle. For some classes of vehicles and in some jurisdictions they are a statutory requirement, for some other vehicles the manufacturer provides a non-statutory system which may be fixed or programmable by the driver.

Vehicle Speed limiter or Speed governor is a device used to restrict the top speed of the vehicle for security reasons, widely used in public service vehicles (buses, school buses) and heavy goods vehicles. Normally speaking, the vehicle is already equipped with an onboard speed limit system prevent the vehicle exceeding certain speed. 

 

However in reality usage, the traffic might get dangerous with the pre-controlled speed, especially for school buses, public buses, and heavy construction trucks. Then external speed limiter (speed governor) is needed to ensure the public security.

The throttle is a mechanism used to control the inlet gases so as to increase or decrease vehicle speed. Typically, the throttle is a butterfly value placed on the entrance of the intake manifold in a fuel-injected engine or in the carburetor in a carbureted engine. Usually the throttle valve is connected and controlled with a throttle pedal in vehicles.

Types of Governors

The type of governor used on diesel engines is dependent upon the application required. The six basic types of governors are as follows:

1.      Mechanical centrifugal flyweight style that relies on a set of rotating flyweights and a control spring; used since the inception of the diesel engine to control its speed.

2.      Power-assisted servo mechanical style that operates similar to the mechanical centrifugal flyweight but uses engine oil under pressure to move the operating linkage.

3.      Hydraulic governor that relies on the movement of a pilot valve plunger to control pressurized oil flow to a power piston, which, in turn, moves the fuel control mechanism.

4.      Pneumatic governor that is responsive to the air flow (vacuum) in the intake manifold of an engine. A diaphragm within the governor housing is connected to the fuel control linkage that changes its setting with increases or decreases in the vacuum.

5.      Electromechanical governor uses a magnetic speed pickup sensor on an engine-driven component to monitor the rpm of the engine. The sensor sends a voltage signal to an electronic control unit that controls the current flow to a mechanical actuator connected to the fuel linkage.

6.      Electronic governor uses magnetic speed sensor to monitor the rpm of the engine. The sensor continuously feeds information back to the ECM (electronic control module). The ECM then computes all the information sent from all other engine sensors, such as the throttle position sensor, turbocharger-boost sensor, engine oil pressure and temperature sensor, engine coolant sensor, and fuel temperature to limit engine speed.

Top four Security Threats to Windows 10

Top four Security Threats to Windows 10

                                                                               

After its release in July 2015, Windows 10 has earned its stripes as being more secure than its predecessors. With the new browser Edge and Windows Defender under its wings, the new Microsoft Operating System (OS) became an instant hit among the Windows connoisseurs.

But beyond the hype there lies a sad truth; nothing is 100% secure in the savage world of internet and over time people have discovered that Windows 10 comes with its own share of security flaws. In this article, we address the security loopholes that cripple the popularity of Windows 10, and offer tips on how to overcome them.

Phishing Business

No matter what sophisticated security tools your computer is equipped with, criminals will always be able to make inroads to a network through the weakest security link – the user. Using manipulative tactics to coax users into succumbing to security breach is the easiest way for hackers and cyber-criminals to make profits. Dubbed as a social engineering method, phishing emails exploit the human vulnerability to spread malwares or spy on people’s data.

No technology is above human intelligence, so Windows 10 users can’t really count on their trusty workhorse for anything better. Soon after the release of Windows 10, scammers started circulating emails disguising them as official updates from Microsoft. But as an aware netizen, you should know that Microsoft rarely sends out updates through email, but pushes them through the Windows Updates program. The only way users can curtail well-devised social engineering attempts is by not clicking on dubious email links and attachments.

Double Edged Sword

Granted, Microsoft swanky new browser Edge is way ahead of its ailing predecessor Internet Explorer in terms of performance and security. Yet, Windows power users have raised their eyebrows to the fact that the Edge has Flash and PDF Reader as its built-in plug-ins, both Adobe products known for having a past of being hackers’ delight to exploit. From our recent memory, Adobe Systems in July last year hastily issued patch updates for its Flash media player to get rid of two critical zero-day vulnerabilities users found it the program.

Likewise, a report by Secunia software company, Adobe Reader’s versions 10 and 11 were found to have 39 and 40 vulnerabilities and – because the patch updates were so frequent – they left 65% and 18% of PCs prone to new attacks respectively.

Drive-by Attacks

Windows Defender is not capable enough (on its own) to fend off all malware attacks that seeps into your system, and especially not the sneaky ones that stealthily transfer from dodgy websites to your PC through drive-by attacks. Microsoft has a self-touted anti-malware product that is dissed by independent lab tests as incompetent. And again, the problem only worsens if you count on using Edge for your internet excursions. On the other hand, Google’s Chrome is pretty adept at blocking drive-by attacks through its malicious website blocking system. But that is just a secondary layer of protection, and applies only to Chrome fanatics. What you should be aiming at is to have a powerful anti-malware product to run a crusade against malware threats.

There are many free anti-malware software’s that are as good as the paid ones, and do a wonderful job of combating malware attacks.

Virus Threats

One of the good things about Windows Defender is that it replaces an out-of-date security products and replaces itself by default to consolidate the security gates. Additionally, it automatically uninstalls outdated programs that can be used as a possible link by viruses to infiltrate a PC. But despite the best of intentions, Windows Defender falls short in performance and can only do so much – as confirmed by the below average reviews it received in independent lab tests.

To reiterate, there are third-party antivirus anti-malware software’s that come at no cost and yet go a long way in virus protection.