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Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones

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Re: Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones

#121

Post by NikolaNovak »

lovehashbrowns wrote: post #118
NikolaNovak wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>I really don't understand how having a cop on the street corner is any better than the "Orwellian" camera. In both cases, you're being watched Hmm; that feels a dishonest argument - I would expect HN audience to understand the differences between the two without being prompted. One of them will record the observation, store it potentially indefinitely, and enable unfathomable correlations for unfathomable purposes.…

> I would expect HN audience to understand the differences between the two without being prompted. I would expect you to not be so condescending. The comment I replied to didn't make any sort of actual argument; it's just a statement. Therefore, I don't understand how they reached their conclusion. > One of them will record the observation, store it potentially indefinitely, and enable unfathomable correlations for u…

Apologies if it sounded condescending; it was the "I really don't understand how..." part of the post that, in turn, sounded to me as condescending - as if there's no plausible way anybody would prefer a cop over a camera, to the point you can't even understand why somebody would think so. It sounded dishonest because I feel, and perhaps I'm wrong, that with some effort to understand another person's perspective, most HN audience would be able to understand why somebody might prefer a cop over a camera.

I am still not certain - were you literally unable to understand why somebody would prefer a cop, or were you unwilling to make the effort, or - something else? :|

Re: Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones

#122

Post by megaremote »

Franciscouzo wrote: post #105
megablast wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, we do. Every single car should be tracked. 40,000 people are killed every year due to car drivers, we should start taking this seriously.

That just sounds like a band-aid solution, what is needed are walkable cities, and decent public transportation.

That just sounds like a huge change that will take a long time and a lot of money to do.

Re: Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones

#123

Post by lovehashbrowns »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #121
lovehashbrowns wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would expect HN audience to understand the differences between the two without being prompted. I would expect you to not be so condescending. The comment I replied to didn't make any sort of actual argument; it's just a statement. Therefore, I don't understand how they reached their conclusion. > One of them will record the observation, store it potentially indefinitely, and enable unfathomable correlations for u…

Apologies if it sounded condescending; it was the "I really don't understand how..." part of the post that, in turn, sounded to me as condescending - as if there's no plausible way anybody would prefer a cop over a camera, to the point you can't even understand why somebody would think so. It sounded dishonest because I feel, and perhaps I'm wrong, that with some effort to understand another person's perspective, mos…

I literally don't understand why somebody would prefer a cop over a camera on every street corner of the US.

And just to be double clear, I understand the downsides of having everything on video; in this hypothetical situation, it's my opinion that having a cop on every street corner of the US is the greater evil, while having a camera in their place is a lesser evil. Both evils, both absurd hypothetical scenarios. Both fun to think about because I like dystopian societies.

Re: Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones

#124

Post by megaremote »

wiredone wrote: post #101
Sendotsh wrote: post #89

Good. People in Australia don't take driving seriously. I spend a lot of time on the road, and have lived all over Australia, and the one defining thing I've found in common all over the country is that people are WAY too casual about driving. Sydney and Melbourne being the worst by far, with it being so bad it has become entertainment[0] On any given commute you'll see dozens of people playing with their phone while…

>People in Australia don't take driving seriously. Honestly, as an Australian living in the US, i'm not sure you have enough context. After living in both Asia and the US, we're a nanny state on this stuff. In the US, people barely ever get breathe tested and often drive drunk, speed everywhere (70-80mph is a lot faster than 110-120kmh). I've also seen Facetime in use multiple times while on the freeway.

The USA, with 40,000 deaths every single year. More than gun deaths.

Re: Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones

#125

Post by ShorsHammer »

jjulius wrote: post #19
gruez wrote: post #12

>But it is illegal to touch a phone while driving except to pass it to a passenger. The ban even applies to drivers who are stationary at red lights or stuck in traffic jams. This sounds like a hassle for anyone trying to use gps on their phones. Also, doesn't this essentially outlaw rideshare drivers? How can you accept rides or confirm a pickup if you can't touch the phone? I never saw any driver use voice commands…

>This sounds like a hassle for anyone trying to use gps on their phones. What hassle? Futzing with your GPS app while driving is just as dangerous as texting. Set your destination before you drive and pull over if you need to adjust it, just as you should if you need to text. >How can you accept rides or confirm a pickup... Pull over.

> Futzing with your GPS app while driving is just as dangerous as texting.

Just as dangerous yes, but using a standalone GPS or dashboard touchscreen is legal in Australia which makes this rule strange.

I talk on a handheld CB radio regularly in the car and that's perfectly legal too.

Re: Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones

#126

Post by RandallBrown »

WalterBright wrote: post #87
yonaguska wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To second your point- I'd hazard that people using phones at lights are also using them in between lights. I filter at lights despite it being illegal where I live- because I've already been rear ended twice by people on phones. And by filtering I get a great view on people using their phones. They are nine times out of ten using their phones leading up to the light, during the light and during takeoff. I've also not…

In the last year I've begun pausing slightly before pulling into an intersection when the light just turned green. I don't care to be t-boned by someone failing to get through before it turned red. I've also started glancing left & right going through the green even if it's been green a while. Once the traffic in front of me stopped suddenly, I stopped, and the truck behind me didn't and totaled my car, nearly killin…

Isn't this just how everyone should be driving all the time?

This is what I was taught when I learned to drive 20 years ago, and texting wasn't really a thing back then.

Re: Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones

#127

Post by jaimex2 »

y4mi wrote: post #3

So they're ramping up the detection of people using their phones while waiting for the traffic light to turn green? Doesn't really sound like this is actually about safety. I doubt these cameras can capture the photo do a decent quality on that angle for anything but standing or very slow moving cars But I guess we can hope it will stop some people, even if there will be a lot of people caught that weren't really end…

It's never about safety. These cameras bring in billions in revenue.

If you want to argue that they're not about revenue raising tell me why the Police here strike for pay rises by warning motorists of where the cameras are?

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/police-threaten-...

They've done this for at least 3 pay rises in the past and they actually have followed through.

Re: Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones

#128

Post by LocalH »

megablast wrote: post #70
homonculus1 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't need police-connected camera networks running machine learning in any US city.

Yes, we do. Every single car should be tracked. 40,000 people are killed every year due to car drivers, we should start taking this seriously.

That's an awfully dystopian viewpoint. Ever-present surveillance is a cancer on society, and we shouldn't be increasing the amount of surveillance that happens.

Re: Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones

#129

Post by therealx »

tiew9Vii wrote: post #114
Sendotsh wrote: post #89

Good. People in Australia don't take driving seriously. I spend a lot of time on the road, and have lived all over Australia, and the one defining thing I've found in common all over the country is that people are WAY too casual about driving. Sydney and Melbourne being the worst by far, with it being so bad it has become entertainment[0] On any given commute you'll see dozens of people playing with their phone while…

Completely agree. I can’t figure it out though, they have some strict standards getting a license, red p’s for 12-24 months + 120 logbook hours, then green p’s where they are restricted to dangerous below highway speeds so have drivers aggressively overtaking them. Despite this, standards seem far lower than Europe. The horn thing is really annoying, often the person being beeped can’t move forward anyway due to traf…

I found the same thing - in the chezh republic, it was a far more free for all than any other urbanized country I had been to, however things ran way smoother because you counted on everyone else following no rules.

Re: Australia uses new technology to catch drivers on phones

#130

Post by uoaei »

megaremote wrote: post #122
Franciscouzo wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That just sounds like a band-aid solution, what is needed are walkable cities, and decent public transportation.

That just sounds like a huge change that will take a long time and a lot of money to do.

With all the discussion on HN about "technical debt" I wonder why the same sort of strategies to avoid technical debt aren't applied outside the domain of software engineering.

Sure, it's effort now to do the smarter-but-harder thing, but the payoff will be huge in a few decades. Sure beats having a police state that is precipitated by goody-two-shoes demanding video surveillance of nearly all public roads in the USA.

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