What's the point of lots of speed and acceleration?

that's how it used to be around here 30-40 years ago. i doubt we're ever going back, the powers that be seem to like it this way.
a few years ago, a local officer told me they were instructed not to hand out tickets, bad publicity.

 

Yeah they just want to be everybody's buddy. Except you know, those people.

 

i remember many moons ago when a boston celtic got pulled over, put on the ground and cuffed for dwb in the town he lived in.

 

Over here, no matter what the motor authority is trying to push at the time, the major killer on the road is fatigue. It might be alcohol induced, drug induced, or just plain driving while tired. It was drink driving, then speeding, and these two are pushed beyond the bounds of acceptable in the attempt to revenue raise.

The proliferation of fixed and mobile speed cameras and point to point cameras, is sure sign they make good money, roadside blood alcohol and drug testing also make good money, yet, the road toll still increases.

It would seem that having robots drive the car would be a better idea, but the lane keep assist taking control of the steering with sheer mechanical power beyond what the driver can over come, has led to a lot of car crashes over here, speed sign recognition or getting bad information from the GPS as to what the speed limit is has led to a few fatalities from a vehicle travelling at silly slow speed, just over the crest of a hill, the sudden braking required creates a chain reaction crash with each impact further up the chain, at ever higher speeds, if the first vehicle did manage to stop, if not, absolute carnage ..... no matter what they claim, you can not stop an 80 tonne road train safely in the same length of roadway as a small vehicle ..... the result isn't something anyone ever wants to see ......

A reliable device that monitors the driver's alertness I think is the answer, rather than autonomous control, unfortunately, not a great revenue raiser, so probably not likely to become mandatory equipment over here, any time soon.

The one biggest life saver, seatbelts, they can make a good $$ out of that, they have seatbelt recognition cameras now that can tell if the seatbelt is actually being worn properly, a quick "flash for cash" provides a photo and a fine that appears days later in the mail .....

T1 Terry

 

How is it that we've determined that 2/3 of traffic fatalities are NOT related to speed???
What are those people DYING from??????

I think if this is the case then we should direct 2/3 of our highway law enforcement efforts AWAY from revenue gen......I mean, speed enforcement!!!!

"Trust the 'experts!' they say....."

Fatigue and driving while distracted are efficient organ donor sources here in 'the land of the free.'
We also have an AMAZING number of what you call 'drink driving' followed by a number....which they tend NOT to have in your nation.
This means in some cases it's the second, third, or more than that occurrence...IN ONE JURISTICTION!!
I could understand a repeat - since scofflaws often drive without bothering to get a license, but I'm thinking that a DUI-3, 4 (I've seen5!) should result in more than one person spending some time 'in jail' and never EVER touching a steering wheel again.
Love the idea of P2P speed and seatbelt cameras, but again......"land of the free"
We don't even do red light cameras in most parts of this country, and THAT is about as binary as it gets.

I don't freekin MIND if cities, counties, and states make money off of red light cameras!!!
LORD KNOWS they can find a way to spend it - and MAYBE......JUST MAYBE we could put the dwindling number of good people who are willing to put on a badge to better use!!!

Ironic (funny,) how Mad Max was filmed down there - isn't it?

NOT saying I would want to live in that kind of Nanny State - but I acknowledge some of the benefits!!!

 

I would encourage our city to adopt this technology.
I would propose a $1000 base fine for running a red light.
People who rush through red lights endangering their fellow citizens would have to pay a premium for this sort of risk taking.
If 20 people a day engaged in this reckless behavior, it would bring in $20,000 a day per light.
$20,000 a day x 365 days a year = $7,300,000 just from one stop light.
Our little city has 10 redlights that would yield at least 20 violations a day (really more like 20 violations per hour)
10 redlights x $7,300,000 a year = $73,000,000 a year.
All revenue produced by lawbreakers who are endangering their fellow citizens.

I think I've found a topic to broach at our next city council meeting!

This technology would also aid greatly in the recreation of the exact circumstances of the tragic accidents that happen when someone runs a red light and causes an accident.

Our county has had great success with flock cameras on our main roads in and out of the county and the red light running ticket technology would dovetail on this perfectly.

 

The rate of accidents didn't change with red light cameras in Philly. Instead of running the too short yellows, people were doing hard brakes resulting in a crash.

 

it could be argued that with more cars in the fleet having automatic braking, this is the side to err on.

 

maybe they need tailgating cameras too?

 

Q.E.D.
If you rear-end someone it's not their fault even if they have to unexpectedly slam on brakes at an intersection!
- NOT an unheard of situation where there are crosswalks.

Cameras aren't the end all be all - but they can be an effective tool to pluck the low hanging fruit.

 

... no understanding of inanimate self propulsion is complete, without tracing its origin, 1770, the world's first example, steam diligence artillery tractor which, on its maiden voyage its creator, Captain Nicholas Cugnot piloting his unwieldy monstrosity at the amazing speed, average walking gate, ultimately lost control at the breathtaking speed -- 3 mph -- putting it straight through a brick wall!

We are left to merely speculate as to whether the good captain Cugnot had, upon his person at time of the world's very first automobile accident, adequate proof of financial responsibility? Blood alcohol content under 0.08?

Fast forward, to the early 20th century, our proving ground for automobile technology was, city-to-city tourist trophies, slowly evolving inanimate self-propulsion's reduction in mass, evolution of speed, development of reliability. No coolant for these early radiators, these machines typically stalled, mid-race, radiators steaming, boiling over.

In quantitative economics, we refer to the advance of velocity, equal to mass times acceleration as, a heteroscedaticity --- error learning curve; a deterministic element in the observable variance as it normalizes across its advance, through Cartesian quadrant one.

ANSWER: ... the point of delta acceleration (e.g., first fundamental theorem of calculus; evolution in the change of acceleration) is, the minimization of the observable trend in the deterministic component of the evolution of inanimate self-propulsion.

It's not acceleration we study, per se. It's its variance - qed.


- Samuel, '04 Ruthiemobile

 

"mass times acceleration" equals force. "heteroscedaticity" is something else entirely. If quantitative economics is misappropriating terminology, they ought not.

 

Ever been driving in the left lane when a bus or truck in the right lane obscures the traffic light?

Or behind such a truck which truck enters the intersection and by the time you can see the light, the light is red and if you try to stop you will get hit from behind? Or maybe the bus is stopped and you still can't see around it. The second just last night, no accident. The former in 1964, a mere 60 years ago this weekend a fender bender.

Absolutes are stupid. Sometimes stuff just happens.

 

Heteroscedaticity is one of (the many) concepts in statistics that has a horrible-sounding definition. But when you see it actually done, it is simple and satisfying.

If this were the vent thread, I might despair many such things. But it's not. Here we wonder at the need for ever more speed and acceleration. That seems simple enough - higher profits for manufacturers and dealers.

 

For those of us who own the Prius as a DD...it's hard to beat it for MPG and TCO. For those of us that like to have fun with our cars...we buy/build vehicles for fun. If you want both...you get both. I was going to wait on the new Roadster over my 2019 ZR1, but I'd still be waiting...5 years later. Transportation Appliance, full tilt Diesel or Hot Rod...in the US...we still have the freedom to pick our poisons.

 

"in the US we still have the freedom to pick our poisons." I wonder in what country that might not be so?

Even here in Kunming I see an occasional supercar or deluxe Rolls Royce. Buyers pay whopping import duties, but pay they do, seeking ... something I cannot really define. So, govt joins manufacturers and dealers in profiting.

==
In US, the only vehicle import exclusions I am aware of are on vehicles not meeting some safety standards. So you can pick your poison only up to a level defined by not-you.

 

Thank you. So...pick your poisons for "your" reasons...and let others choose for "their" reasons.

 

"let others choose for "their" reasons" We agree.

But I have no reason to choose any car at all now, and I reject the notion that this is in any way about me.

 

It's not. As it applies however, you do not share the same "freedoms of choice" in China we do in the US.

 

If I chose to pay. I could buy any car available in US and others besides. In terms of vehicles, my freedom of choice ain't bad. Is there some other freedom you ache to discuss?