Car makers are used to offering you the very latest gadgets to get you to buy their newest models.

From satellite radios to alarms that beep when you're getting too close to an object, modern technology has vastly changed the way many of us drive.

But one thing hasn't - a lot of us still like to go over the speed limit as we tool around T.O. So you have to wonder whether this latest advance will be a step backward for some.

German electronics giant Siemens A.G. has developed a new system for some 2008 model cars that will remind drivers they're exceeding the current limit.

The process works by installing a camera that actually reads speed limit signs, then beams a message onto your windshield that you're going too fast. Drivers can also choose to allow the system to regulate their cruise control and let the car slow down if it's running past the posted rate.

But the idea isn't a two way street. The regulator won't cause a car that's going too slow to speed up to the maximum allowed.

It's hard to say whether drivers will welcome the idea or not and Siemens doesn't say if the device can be switched off.

But the company warns if you're expecting a Jetsons-like future where the car makes the decisions on auto pilot, you'll be disappointed. Spokesman Enno Pflug notes that using a test track and guiding a car in stop and go traffic, where other drivers are constantly changing lanes, are two very different things.

And given increased congestion, it's unlikely those sci-fi movie-like days will ever come.

"Our aim is more comfort for the driver," he explains.

The company has yet to say which 2008 models will have the system or how much it will add to the cost of a new vehicle. There's also no way of knowing if it will cause the leadfoots out there to speed to a different kind of car that doesn't offer the option.