A system for determining a safe maximum speed of an vehicle has a processor and a global positioning system receiver in communication with the processor. The processor is configured to determine a grade and distance to an end of an upcoming or a current road segment the vehicle is traveling on based on the global positioning system information received from the global positioning system receiver. The processor is further configured to determine the safe maximum speed of the vehicle based on the distance to the end and pitch of the grade of the upcoming or current road segment the vehicle is traveling on and the braking efficiency of the vehicle.