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Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

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381–390 of 954 posts

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

#381
post #94
post #20

Better street designs is a better approach. Narrower lanes, physical barriers for pedestrians, roundabouts, etc

Pretty sure the shithead that killed a family in King County two years ago, while doing 110 in a 40 zone (after already wrecking two cars) didn't give two figs about street design. Casual speeders would benefit from better street engineering. Excessive speeders don't care. They just don't understand the concept of consequences. A speed governor would have likely saved four lives, and that 18-year old man from a 17 ye…

But doesn't "better street engineering" passively reduce speed because the road is full of bends that's difficult to negotiate at high speed and/or will make you much likely to crash into bollards/tree/stationary cars and/or will wreck your suspension with speed bumps ?

My understanding is that a good engineered road will not gently suggest you to drive at this or that speed, but will make you so forcibly.

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

#382
post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Driving to work sounds like a financial reason

> Driving to work sounds like a financial reason Not a get out of jail free card.

In many states they'll still let you (drive for work, otherwise on restriction) for various offenses.

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

#383
post #205

There are cars that can go way over 100 mph, and they almost all speed controlled by software. High performance cars are often speed limited by software to about 150 mph. How is this legal? Cars with speed limits that high belong to the track, not public roads, with a possible exception for emergency vehicles. There are some rare (emergency) situations where "superspeeding" might help, but I can think of many others…

The tricky part is definitely enforcement - as you said, if people can mod around it, it risks becoming another "only the responsible people obey" situation

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

#384
post #50

The technical aspects of this seem concerning. I'm wondering exactly who has the authority to set a car to this mode and how the mechanism of doing so works. What happens if you sell the car or let somebody else borrow it? Or when you get another car, or rent one? What are the failure modes of it, like if the GPS glitches a little and decides you're on a feeder or surface road when you're actually on a freeway? I thi…

The idea of limiting reckless driving makes sense in theory, but once you start handing over control to software (and whoever manages it), the edge cases get really messy. GPS errors, ownership changes, rentals

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

#385
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…

The challenge, I guess, would be infrastructure and regulations

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

#386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve never met a person taking high risk actions who thinks they are unqualified to do so. But they always think some other people are.

This is generally true for actions at every level of risk. Designing around how humans will actually behave is better than trying to artificially restrict everyone's behavior preemptively.

[citation needed]

Preemptively restricting the space of possible (or likely) situations is the cornerstone of designing safe systems.

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

#387

Speed limiters built into cars. Anti-infringement technology built into general-purpose computers. And yet, guns and ammo freely available and unrestricted outside of automatic weapons and the like? Yeah. Can’t wait to move off-grid someday. (Yes, obviously American) I’ve got enough sense to keep it slow and safe in populated areas, yet occasionally open it up elsewhere when conditions are right. Guess that’s another…

The problem is people who as matter of course travel above the speed limit regardless of if any other motorists are around them, as they are “playing by different rules”, making them more unpredictable and stressful for those around them. Just two days ago I did a long distance trip and in general I could engage cruise control at the speed limit allowing me to focus more on other potential hazards around me. Occasion…

The question is, if everyone is speeding, would it not make sense to raise the speed limit?

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

#388
post #205

There are cars that can go way over 100 mph, and they almost all speed controlled by software. High performance cars are often speed limited by software to about 150 mph. How is this legal? Cars with speed limits that high belong to the track, not public roads, with a possible exception for emergency vehicles. There are some rare (emergency) situations where "superspeeding" might help, but I can think of many others…

I personally would be perfectly fine with a default software limiter that can be disabled when you get to the track (or a German autobahn). If you get in an accident on a public road with the car in track mode… they get to throw the book at you

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

#389
Maybe this has already been discussed elsewhere on hn but surely this is the scariest part:

> U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wants to stop funding “active” transportation projects such as sidewalks

The powers in the US think they don't need to sort out their embarrassing pedestrian facilities. Amazing. Shocking. I feel sorry for US residents, at least those that didn't vote this dumpster fire in.

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

#390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Autobahns prove that it can be safe and reasonable.

Could that not be allowed by the GPS based limiter system that Japanese sports cars have used in Japan for decades? if carOnAutoBahn { setLimiter(155) }

in german autobahns there are segments with limits, either because the road conformation does not allow "unlimited" or because of temporary road work
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