The answer to question, Docker 17.06-ce default container memory limit on shared host resources is applicable to my question, except it proposes a Systemd only solution.
I have read question, Setting memory consumption limits with Upstart, except I am afraid that if limits are exceeded the Docker daemon will crash instead of crashing container processes.
What is the correct way to ensure that new containers will fail to be started when memory limits are reached, instead of crashing the system and/or Docker daemon? I am interested in an Upstart solution, but I think it would be useful to many if there were solutions for the various init systems.