MISC questions about the Plug-in

True... But, that battery pack can drive five persons plus all their groceries unlike some other smallish PHEVs.

 

Wow nice job on the 79 MPG. I drive 70 miles a day mostly highway (I average about 65 to 72 MPH on the NJ Turnpike) I never get over 56 - 59 MPG. Anything your doing with your PIP that I may not be. I drive EV up to my expressway entry point which is about 15 miles. Same thing on the way back.

 

I'm not sure how it matters; I tend to use the US measurements system, because most people in this forum use it, and most people who use metric are familiar with the US units as well. Our top speed limit is 110 kph here which equals 68.3508 mph. On most secondary roads the speed limit is 100 kph =62.1371 mph. Tertiary roads are 80 or 90 kph.

Cars have become much safer in recent years, and they could become a lot safer with existing technology. I think it's time for government regulators to do some actual risk analysis, instead of simple risk-avoidance. There's no skill involved in that.

 

Here's an idea, raise speed limits to something more reasonable for cars nowadays, and actually enforce it. Here in Southern California it's always a toss up when the police will actually pull you over, hence people take their chances going way over the speed limit (aka the law, whether you agree with it or not).

 

If you want to think of it this way; it's the same argument for decriminalizing pot. If enforcement isn't working, and people continue to break the law, get rid of the law.

I'm not sure I agree with the logic of that, but it does seem like a valid comparison.

 

An interesting question is if law should reflect an absolute practice simply reflect common practices; that is, if law is a means for which social institutions can govern behaviour, then should it standardize what is present to ensure equal treatment (fair), or should it attempt to govern moral philosophies (just)? That the law prevents rich and poor alike from stealing food and sleeping under bridges is fair, but hardly just. Because of selective enforcement and disproportionate penalties, speed limits and pot are just, but hardly fair.

I like to drive 60 MPH when I can, as the time and space equivalency pleases me and the number is about right in terms of engine efficiency. If I were in a metric system, I'd probably tend to frequent secondary roads and shoot for 37.3 MPH, or else pretend I was back in the US. But I don't want to harm anyone physically (driving like a maniac unsafely, and contributing to an accident) or mentally (driving as an obstruction, contributing to bad karma) -- the "don't be a dick" rule of esthetics. Having an automated system that optimized my speed to traffic conditions would be a wonderful technology but take some of the romance out of road travel.

 

Wow I was like super confused until I read "Don't be a dick" and chuckled and then chuckled more when I saw your name . Double chuckles Woody!

 

I should change my name to Richard?

(For the record, it comes from Wooddell, and I'm told that is the wooded dells of Scotland. Growing up I was kidded about Woody Woodpecker -- I did get sick of that laugh -- and station wagons. I don't know when woodie came to its current meaning -- it might of been derived from wooden pecker -- but in the 90's or so. I find it terribly amusing.)

 

I always wondered what was the origin of the surname "Waddell."

 

Same origin. My great grandmother's maiden name was Wooddell, but there were a lot of Waddells as well. Literacy issues and "I can't be bothered to write it down correctly for this immigrant" issues are pretty common in the US at least.

 

Tell that to Paul Walker.

 

Listen, the issue of speed is a problem in Southern California. In every city and county.

I live in Long Beach. The main road at the south end of my neighborhood is a narrow 35mph road.

It crosses into a school zone where middle school kids are riding skateboards and being stupid.


People drive about 45-50 down the 35 mph street. They aggressively swerve in and out of traffic, run read lights; to get to the front of the pack.

There have been 3 major accidents in my neighborhood where someone ran a red light and sent the other vehicle flying. Would not have been such a major accident if they were respecting the speed limit.


This does not mean that raising the speed limit is the answer. If you raise the limit to 50, they will just drive 70. We have radar signs on most streets around here that flash and tell them they are driving 50 in a 35mph zone. Do brake lights flash when they pass those signs? Of course not.

People drive fast, because they realize they won't be punished for doing so.

They don't think that they could actually crush someone's child with their vehicle as they fly through that school zone.


When I lived in Colorado in the 90's, the running joke was that anytime you saw someone being pulled over on the side of the road, they were most likely from California. I see why.

 

Based on legal precedent, if a law isn't working, it should be repealed, right?

That's the reason pot is now legal in some states, right?

 

Heat is a sign of waste and inefficiency.

 

Maybe the answer isn't to lower speed limits on freeways; and to step-up enforcement in residential areas.

 

I would control the situation using the insurance system.

Any fault accident claim = mandatory doubling of insurance premium. The extra to go into a victim's fund.
Repeat claim = doubling again, and so on.
Driving without insurance = years in jail.

 

I don't think the problem is punishment as deterrence. Sure, it has an effect, but it isn't the root cause.

Strangely enough, I just had a conversation on an infosec list around the metaproblem here.

The problem here is one of compliance: there is guidance, and you want people to follow it. There is really good literature around the medical compliance issue, but legal compliance is must thornier. Usually it boils down to three things:
1) clear communication of policy
2) tools to support effective compliance
3) feedback on performance

With speeding, the biggest problem is 1. We see numbers but they seem arbitrary -- we have justified belief that we can drive safely at higher speeds on certain roads. As you pointed out, "they don't think they could actually crush someone's child with their vehicle." The numbers are computed based upon risk avoidance, not risk management, and often on lazy bucketing rather than thoughtful analysis. We don't believe the published numbers are correct. That is a hard problem to solve.

We could improve 2 & 3. My prius knows what road it is on, mostly. It shouldn't be complicated to have a database of road speeds, and when traveling over the speed limit provide visual notification. In fact, I'd love to have visual notification combined with clues about why the speed is what it is -- "warning: middle school nearby" or "warning: high accident rate at stop light ahead". It would help with 1 as well, and give us belief that the numbers aren't arbitrary but based upon sound engineering.

I think, as autonomous vehicles become more common, that we will get to a point of automated traffic speed enforcement. Heck, if a few flipped Ford Explorers triggers the TREAD act, what will bloody children at a middle school do? This is one where a loss of 'free will' might be okay -- my Prius at 60 MPH is about a megajoule of energy, and that is nothing to trivialize.

 

I hate to say it, but I see the automated car in the not-so-distant future.
Climb in, set the destination, relax, get out when you arrive. Maybe that's the answer.

 

I think "Climb in, set the destination, and watch over the process" is more likely the case for the not-so-distant future. Level 3 in the US NHTSA sense. Level 4 carries too much risk, and while we aren't the most conservative culture, I don't think we'll embrace that change that quickly. I'd put it about a generation and a half out.

On the other hand, mandatory vehicle to vehicle communications are likely around 2017, and important precursor, and I'd expect general commercial sales to begin around 2020. If I can keep this prius a decade, my next car may well provide a driver!

 

Thanks for the info, I am just an immature spaz. No offense intended. My real name is Sudeep (I heard a ton for that name growing up in NJ)