Police pulled over the Google driverless car for going 24 in a 35 mph zone, but couldn't give it a ticket because there was no driver! The computer probably explained that some stupid human had capped its speed at 25 mph, but questions remain: If the programming includes an incorrectly high speed limit, would the Google car get off with speeding? Did the Google car correctly recognize a cop pulling it over, and was it cooperative when questioned? How would the.car take a breathalyzer test if required by the police? We need an "auto-drive" option on the Gen 4 Prius!
Those cars are safer than the ones that regularly run me out of my lane, while staring down at their steering wheel, on a nearly daily basis.
Interesting questions you bring up. I've never seen one on the east coast, but how do they obtain a license? Are they driving in a controlled area? I would think there would be a lot of discussion before they let these cars on the road, but apparently not?
Question, Have the autonomous vehicle rolled down the window and acted with courtesy to the police officer?
Just "googled" it and some of the questions are answered in the news story, also there is a picture of the traffic stop and you can see there appears to be a human in the car -- I guess the human does not drive, though.
Human is a passenger only as I understand this model. Seriously, the software/hardware combination ought to be registered with the state and issued a license which can be revoked if a serious, illegal flaw in performance is found by the police. Further, if convicted, the operation of all identical hardware/software combinations should be immediately halted until fixed, just as with commercial aircraft. I agree that on the whole these vehicles will make driving safer compared to the current wetware versions who are quite often poorly trained, unmotivated, and inattentive.
Was that the real reason, or just the sound bite? I strongly suspect that the car wasn't really illegally slow under the specific circumstances, merely below the local human norm. I also suspect that: (1) The optical portion of the guidance systems will be extremely capable of reading roadside traffic signage, and won't be missing the legal and properly displayed speed limit signs; (2) The event recorders will usually have enough logged details for the engineers to go back and show how missed signs were improperly placed or obscured or otherwise rendered unenforceable under common traffic codes; (3) The above logged detail will also be catching unethical cops pulling over cars on false pretenses.
Why in the hell did the cop pull the car over again... it is not against the law to drive less than the speed limit. The cop was wrong. It wasn't a freeway... and the car didn't need a placard for slow traffic.
All the Google cars are capped at a maximum of 25mph (currently) so they were going 24mph in a 35mph zone. They were impeding traffic and yes that is illegal. From California's code: Minimum Speed Law 22400. (a) No person shall drive upon a highway at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, unless the reduced speed is necessary for safe operation, because of a grade, or in compliance with law. No person shall bring a vehicle to a complete stop upon a highway so as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic unless the stop is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law. The section of road is Highway 82. "Check" for the road being a highway. They were going so slow as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic. "Check" for the impeding part. Was the reduced speed necessary for safe operation? No. Grade? No. Compliance with the law? Yes. If you in a Prius are driving on that same stretch of road impeding traffic you can and will be ticketed for going to slowly. Yes it is illegal. However, the Google cars operate on the Neighborhood Electric Vehicle Definition per 385.5 of the California Vehicle Code meaning they can drive on public roads with speed limits at or under 35mph. So this EV definition makes the Google cars follow a completely different set of rules. I have been saying it for years here and elsewhere, driving too slow is illegal. I won't get into the "driving too fast vs. driving too slow is more dangerous" discussion, leave that for the many other threads. But driving slow can and will get you ticketed. Here in Colorado if you are driving the speed limit and holding up 5 or more vehicles in the left most lane or on a 2 lane road, you are required by law to pull over and let them pass, or you will get a ticket. This is in addition to the normal impeding traffic citations. Notice how the law is written that there is no maximum speed or minimum speed, just one speed. If you are going the EXACT speed limit, you are safe because of the compliance with the law of the speed limit for California. If you are going too slow, you could legally be going faster so that could be a ticket. if you are going too fast, it is speeding. They'll get you one way or the other lol.
Multiple news articles indicate that these cars are capped at 25 mph for safety reasons. If this cap has an objective basis (e.g. prototype development) or was set in cooperation with the local or state DOT, then the answer to the safe operation question is 'Yes'. Any single 'yes' anywhere in the 'or' operation sequence renders the output as a 'yes'. Neither situation applies in this case. According to the MVPD blog, the car was in eastbound lane #3. Checking the location on a satellite map, I see three lanes in each direction, so the car appears to have been in its proper righthand (or 'slow') lane. I.e. there are two additional lanes to the left for following vehicles to pass. In my state, which generally lacks the intense degree of 'get-the-***k-out-of-my-way' road rage found in numerous portions of this continent, this is not be a violation. Also here, minimum speeds are never closer than 10 mph to maximum speeds. And any fuss about the difference between 24 and 25 mph will collapse under a discussion of measurement theory and least significant digits.
You said exactly what I said lol. The point is the car did not get a ticket, and was not driving illegally. Anyone on here with a Prius doing the same thing would get a ticket. The paragraph you didn't quote that mentioned the EV definition is the reason why it wasn't ticketed. If that didn't exist, then it would be ticketed. For comparison, if the car was in Colorado there are even more restrictions to driving slowly. As to your question about the 25mph limit, yes it is a self imposed Google limit. They're all prototypes and people are scared enough of self driving cars let alone one that is going 80mph with traffic...
The way I read your first paragraph, it appeared to be stating that the Google car was driving illegally. Portions of your reply seemed contradictory. In the same place, maybe. In my state, definitely not.
