Live data from Hacker News

Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

fastcompany.com

191–200 of 954 posts

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What happens if the thing thinks the speed limit on a 65 MPH highway is 30 MPH? I'd presume the state would need to update its GIS record, in the meantime you'd put your hazard lights on and move over to the right lane. > Or you have some emergency situation where a higher travel speed is a matter of life and death? Suddenly while driving, or something that you'd need to use the car for in order to travel fast? In…

> I'd presume the state would need to update its GIS record, in the meantime you'd put your hazard lights on and move over to the right lane. The problem isn't the GIS record, it's that the highway is directly adjacent to a mountain and the GPS isn't accurate enough there to distinguish between the highway and the lower speed roads near it, so they can't fix it. Or maybe they just don't care to because it's a bureauc…

I not infrequently see my GPS decide that I’ve taken an exit and am on the parallel local road rather than still on the expressway.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#192
post #162
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TFA says 75% of people with suspended licenses drive anyways.

Sounds like 75% of people with a suspended license need to spend some time out in jail where they can ponder their life choices.

I think that is the best solution. I would shortcut this though, anyone caught speeding even 1mph over the limit goes to jail immediately, 90 days feels right. no need to wait for the license to be suspended /s

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EU includes Germany with its no-limit Autobahns. Left lane usually does around 180km/h, with occasional vehicles going way past 200km/h. Even 300km/h is not unheard of. I kind of hoped more EU would become like that, not the other way round.

I am convinced after having spent time in Germany that for Autobahns to work in other countries, you'd need to import Germans to exclusively drive on them. If you are used to driving in the US or in the central/South America, the German driver is basically an incredibly superior species from another planet.

more people have driver license in los angeles metro area than entire country of germany :)

in america everyone from 15/16 through their death needs a car for basic functioning life, in germany though - not as much. german driver only seem superior…

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#194
post #152

I’ve seen cars improve a lot over that last 10-20 years. Faster, smoother, quieter, and safer, they can cruise all day at 80-90 mph. Sadly, this is completely incompatible with 25 mph city speed limits. Thus, the need for engineering kludges like automotive speed limiters. I’d really like a new vehicle classification, perhaps along the lines of Medium Speed Electric Vehicles. Designed with a top speed of 40 to 45 mph…

Such a vehicle wouldn't be able to travel on a freeway at all [1], which means the market for them is very limited. Even in cities, people will want to hop on a freeway to cut across town more quickly. [1] Most states have rules around operating a minimum speed with the flow of traffic, so cars inhibiting the flow or otherwise driving significantly slower than the cars around them are considered to be a safety hazard…

Today. But, no reason why we couldn’t change the rules to let these vehicles travel in the right lane only. Just as trucks are restricted so on certain highways.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Medical emergencies are not "unrealistic action movie scenarios". If my family member is bleeding and I'm driving them to the ER, I don't and shouldn't have to care about precise speed limits.

If you're in that situation and you've already broken the speed limit so flagrantly multiple times that the courts have installed a speed limiter, that family member may well be safer waiting for the ambulance.

Is there any correlation between speeding tickets and the probability of getting into an accident at a given speed? If you have to exceed the speed limit by 20 MPH today, better the person who does it all the time than the person who isn't used to it, no?

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#196

Just remember to disable the features when nukes land. https://www.theautopian.com/if-you-ever-see-this-speed-sign-...

The full relevant book was: "A guide for highway traffic regulation in an emergency". https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ien.35556021306899&se... The Maintain Top Safe Speed thing was envisioned for transiting across fallout-contaminated areas in the weeks and months afterwards. It prescribes there would be cops stationed at the ends of such routes, limiting the flow of cars entering so that those within the stre…

That is a goofy solution favoring the people who get to the highway first. Increasing inequality of fallout damage is the intended outcome?

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#197
post #162
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TFA says 75% of people with suspended licenses drive anyways.

Sounds like 75% of people with a suspended license need to spend some time out in jail where they can ponder their life choices.

Yes, those life choices having been made for them by their city planner before they were born about the feasibility of getting anywhere in their or doing anything in their city without a vehicle.

Suspending licenses is a punishment that doesn't work and can never work for anyone in most cities who isn't a well-connected suburban teenager who has parents and a network of friends to drive them around. And a lot of courts know this which is why a full suspended license is getting less common and basically is they've become a ban on "non-essential driving."

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it would work as a breath alcohol ignition interlock device when reselling. I.e. you just remove it.

That's what happens if you sell the car. What happens if the thing thinks the speed limit on a 65 MPH highway is 30 MPH? Or you have some emergency situation where a higher travel speed is a matter of life and death? Machines should never enforce laws because they don't have the ability to know when doing so would be unreasonable.

Here's a solution--in an emergency, you can override it but you get a massive fine that can be removed if deemed to be true emergency.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or you have some emergency situation where a higher travel speed is a matter of life and death? Can you provide such a scenario? Or, more importantly... can you provide a reason why this hypothetical, extremely unusual edge case should take precedence over the 12,000 speeding deaths per year in our calculation? For example, I'm willing to wager more people get hurt speeding TO the hospital while their wife is in la…

> Or, more importantly... can you provide a reason why this hypothetical, extremely unusual edge case should take precedence over the 12,000 speeding deaths per year in our calculation? That one's easy. Because the 12,000 "speeding deaths" are caused by 300+ million people, so the probability that one is caused by any given person is extremely low. And even 12,000 is an overestimate because those statistics count eve…

> What happens if you've been drinking not expecting to go anywhere before you learn you need to evacuate immediately because of a wildfire?

I have my own concerns about the technology in question, but frankly this is a terrible example. If you have already proven to make such terrible decisions that you have been court-ordered to have a breathalyzer installed in your car and then you choose to get drunk as a wildfire approaches or at least is highly likely...

Well, then you make terrible decisions and now you sleep in the bed you made. Maybe forever.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're in that situation and you've already broken the speed limit so flagrantly multiple times that the courts have installed a speed limiter, that family member may well be safer waiting for the ambulance.

Is there any correlation between speeding tickets and the probability of getting into an accident at a given speed ? If you have to exceed the speed limit by 20 MPH today, better the person who does it all the time than the person who isn't used to it, no?

speed limits, if majority of cases are not about public safety but generators of revenue. if we all started driving the speed limit the number of accidents would not be significantly reduced while many, many cities/counties/… would fully go bankrupt. I have spent more than a decade in state&local courts records management business and can tell you this first-hand. you can cool deals if you just pay the fine and don’t come to court at all and neat stuff like that. speed limits never were and never will be about public safety
Post reply on HN