141–150 of 255 posts
* Cars are too easy to drive. Drivers have no clue about speed and danger. This is especially true for trucks. You can steer tons with your finger, but you have no idea about the real powers going on.
* Individualization: The 'fuck you' way of driving.
* Social media.
Headline: "Blame Apps" Evidence given in the article: - "Safety experts say" that it's true. The experts are not named or quoted. No evidence or reasoning is given to support the claim. - Highway fatalities are up this year. However, they're still significantly down from 2007, when the iPhone was first introduced. Mobile has been booming for almost a decade - if we should "blame apps", why hasn't it been a concern be…
Now I can call it from afar because there's a commonality to the lack of speed control and lane keeping. They meander left-right on the lane, don't maintain speed and break abruptly as they look at traffic and have to re-synchronize with it.
So, yeah, I don't know if I'd blame apps in particular but the advent of "smart" phones is definitely having an impact on our highways and, from what I see often enough, it isn't positive.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's an old saying "Put your money where your mouth is". I think the idea of mentioning it is that it is a comfort as you hand control of the car over to the automated system.
If only Volvo wasn't as expensive, or boring to drive.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Whether I am running or driving if I see a driver making dangerous u-turns or 3-point turns as of late it is always an Uber driver. I always joke on a run it's normal to almost be hit by cars multiple time and typically it is by the same Uber driver. Just last night I am running thru a crosswalk (w/signal) and a car makes a left into the crosswalk almost hitting the first time, this street has no sidewalk so I am run…
Or maybe we could give drivers tickets for that kinda stuff instead of almost exclusively giving tickets for speeding which I especially on the freeway believe to be a comparatively small problem.
As a cyclist in SF, Uber/Lyft drivers are the most dangerous thing going. They're driving by staring at their phone's map for directions and pickup/dropoff. Once they stop, they stare at their phone for the next ride. Very little situational awareness. It'd be nice if there was some sort of way for them to indicate they drive erratically. Perhaps by painting their cars all yellow or something...
My one and only experience using Uber was with a driver who had no clue where anything was, clearly wasn't from around the place, and from what I could tell violated two traffic laws. So what do I do, give him a bad rating? No, because this person probably needed the money, and a rating under 4.5 gets you shitcanned in an already rigged system. Quite the revolution indeed.
This is the sort of fastidiousness that Krugman talks about in this article[1]. In the old system, that person would probably not have the job in the first place, since the number of drivers was a fraction of what they are today, but since you are now personally forced to deal with the precariousness of their situation, suddenly the situation is disagreeable.
I'm not sure if it's apps alone. At least in The Netherlands I'm seeing multiple reasons for this (we are also seeing a spike in accidents): * Cars are too easy to drive. Drivers have no clue about speed and danger. This is especially true for trucks. You can steer tons with your finger, but you have no idea about the real powers going on. * Individualization: The 'fuck you' way of driving. * Social media.
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In all fairness, the 65-70 mph posted on most rural interstates is usually an uneventfully featureless speed, on uneventful, featureless roads. Meanwhile the urban grandfathered interstates are like NASCAR with a concrete wall to one side, and ruthless traffic inches to your side. And even sometimes on a suburban parkway signed for 45, with four lanes going the same way, you fear for your life as SUVs heading home fr…
> 65-70 mph posted on most rural interstates is usually an uneventfully featureless speed, on uneventful, featureless roads This is true. 95% of the time, it would be just as safe to be cruising at 90 mph. But for those other 5% where there's an unexpected tire in the middle of the road, a deer, a driver who swerved into your lane or any other danger... a few extra milliseconds to react and respond is what makes the…
Headline: "Blame Apps" Evidence given in the article: - "Safety experts say" that it's true. The experts are not named or quoted. No evidence or reasoning is given to support the claim. - Highway fatalities are up this year. However, they're still significantly down from 2007, when the iPhone was first introduced. Mobile has been booming for almost a decade - if we should "blame apps", why hasn't it been a concern be…
And even if we do it's hard to go from circumstantial to causal
But as a driver, I can (un)happily attest that I am distracted from the road if trying to do anything non trivial with my podcast app (the only thing I will let myself use)
Having physical on steering wheel buttons will reduce this but not end it.
Perhaps we just ban radios, phones etc as a precaution.
(Ok actually we can do an experiment - force 50% of drivers to never use a phone or similar and 50% donwhat they like. See who's dead after six months)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If only Volvo wasn't as expensive, or boring to drive.
Expensive compared to Tesla?!
For the price of an estate Volvo, one can buy no less than 6 micro cars.