Mike Ey, Microsoft HoloLens designer, killed in hit and run • Hacker News Board

Re: Mike Ey, Microsoft HoloLens designer, killed in hit and run

#191

Post by CalRobert » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 12:11 PM UTC

dhagz wrote: post #109

varelse wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've created a national infrastructure that IMO nearly requires driving to be a civil right. That sucks. But I really don't have an answer to this problem when proposals to address this are either voted down or end up ridiculously over budget.

Considering the sheer vastness of the continental US, it's not surprising to me that there haven't been many good plans to remove our dependence on cars. The only options, really, for good nation-wide transport are trains and planes. Trains have an incredibly expensive infrastructure, especially the high-speed trains needed to traverse the thousands of miles between the East and West coasts. Planes are slightly less…

But people don't commute across the US, just like they don't commute from Brussels to Madrid. Cities in the US are crap for a variety of reasons (racist zoning, defunding of transit, forced car infrastructure in the form of parking minimums, absurd NIMBYism, etc.)

Re: Mike Ey, Microsoft HoloLens designer, killed in hit and run

#192

Post by CalRobert » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 12:18 PM UTC

Chevalier wrote: post #40

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cars are pretty safe, but I'm always a little shocked that we don't have governors built into cars with sane limits. How is it even possible to do 100mph and why should that speed be allowed? Cars should top off at 75. Not to mention, why are cars dumb machines? If someone is going crazy fast in an area where there is no safe way to decelerate, then the car should not allow that speed to be reached. Freeway speeds sh…

Cars are very UNSAFE, for the record. [1] Self-driving cars will be better... but autonomous cars are SUCH an intellectually lazy progression from the status quo that I hope they won't happen. Rather than autonomous cars, we should be focusing on Taleb's antifragile solutions like walking and biking. This means the design of dense housing and walkable streets, and the removal of two-ton bullets that massacre children…

"If HN types don't recognize and question these car-dependent assumptions, there's no chance the rest of the country will. "

Some of us do. If you hang out on HN when Europe is awake it helps.

I used to live in California, now am in Dublin, and indeed it's remarkable how much life fits in a 2 mile radius. More than I had within 40 miles in LA.

Unfortunately the US has a culture which is positively allergic to change, and a generally ignorant populace, so it's hard to imagine it changing substantially. It is, though, slightly. City centers are becoming more popular and the suburbanite boomers are starting to die off.

Re: Mike Ey, Microsoft HoloLens designer, killed in hit and run

#193

Post by melling » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 12:27 PM UTC

BHSPitMonkey wrote: post #90

melling wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A fall is an accidental death. When someone chooses to get behind the wheel of a car after drinking, they are intentionally making a bad choice. Getting to near zero drunk driver deaths is attainable once we change behavior. That's the acceptable number.

Because changing human behavior is such an easy task, especially changing the behavior of people who are already intoxicated...

No one said it would be easy. Isn't saving 10,000 lives a year worth some effort?

And waiting until the problem occurs is obviously not the time to try and change the behavior.

Re: Mike Ey, Microsoft HoloLens designer, killed in hit and run

#194

Post by rquirk » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 12:43 PM UTC

oflordal wrote: post #8

Säd. Coindidentally the same happened to one of the Oculus founders. http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/01/oculus-vr-co-founder-andrew...

Another unfortunate death that this brings to mind is that of Gunpei Yokoi, creator of Nintendo's Virtual Boy. He too was killed after a car hit him.

Re: Mike Ey, Microsoft HoloLens designer, killed in hit and run

#195

Post by Amezarak » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 12:47 PM UTC

cthalupa wrote: post #119

usefulcat wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>There are sometimes legitimate reasons to be going quickly. I have, at times, needed to have bursts of speed into the 90s to safely get around a drunk driver going 70. So.. you reasoned that it would be safer to be /in front/ of the drunk driver?

>So.. you reasoned that it would be safer to be /in front/ of the drunk driver? Yes? In one scenario I am stuck behind them and potentially having to deal with the results of any sort of screwup on their part, or having to find a completely different route, which isn't always practical. In the other I leave them behind me and am no longer having to deal with them. In what world is it more advantageous to be near a dr…

> In one scenario I am stuck behind them and potentially having to deal with the results of any sort of screwup on their part,

If this is a concern, you are following too closely. You should always be far enough from the vehicle in front of you that you have ample time to stop without hitting them if they stop abruptly or hit something.

Re: Mike Ey, Microsoft HoloLens designer, killed in hit and run

#196

Post by josefresco » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 1:12 PM UTC

Random thought... I wonder if the emergency stop systems being implemented in today's cars would help with situations like this. I'm not sure it could stop someone this reckless (100+MPH) but certainly it could have slowed the car before impact.

Re: Mike Ey, Microsoft HoloLens designer, killed in hit and run

#197

Post by scbrg » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 1:21 PM UTC

ethanhunt_ wrote: post #173

Chevalier wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...dude. No, you don't have to be a drunk going 100mph before you kill someone with your car. That you "don't drink very much" doesn't mean that your "car is incredibly safe and will almost certainly never kill anyone." Your car is an extremely heavy, extremely fast machine that will crush anyone unlucky enough to be in its path. That includes not only incompetent/incapacitated/elderly drivers, but also dumb accident…

"because American structural design forces everyone to drive two-ton bullets to go anywhere, which inevitably results in lethal wrecks. Compare Denmark's road fatality rate of 3.0 per 100,000 inhabitants versus the US ratio of 11.6 per 100,000." Check the per-vehicle-km rate. Denmark isn't safer because they drive less.

Unless I'm reading the table wrong, US is still at 7.6 deaths per billion km, while Denmark is at 3.4. That's more than a 1:2 ratio. I'd certainly say that's safer (even if the difference is smaller than GP indicates).

Re: Mike Ey, Microsoft HoloLens designer, killed in hit and run

#198

Post by darklajid » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 1:47 PM UTC

spike021 wrote: post #82

astrodust wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Either a drink is super expensive where you are, or Uber is very cheap. Hanging out at a place within walking distance of home really is the best bet. Sadly a lot of American cities don't seem to have bars anywhere near where people live, unlike European ones where you can throw a rock from your window and hit a pub.

Last week I took Uber late at night one mile in a downtown area near where I live. It cost about $6 USD. Usually a beer is about $5-8 in that area. But I agree, it depends quite a bit on distance between where you are and your destination.

One mile? I'd argue you can walk that even (or especially? I tend to like that) if you're drunk.

The GP probably talked about a somewhat bigger trip, maybe (sorry, miles isn't something that feels natural) on the order of 10-15+ km.

Now, driving drunk is absolutely no excuse. But I do agree that the price of getting home by Cab-Or-Replacement-Service is probably not in the 'one more drink' range. A bus ticket though..?

Re: Mike Ey, Microsoft HoloLens designer, killed in hit and run

#199

Post by dredmorbius » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 1:50 PM UTC

dhagz wrote: post #109

varelse wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've created a national infrastructure that IMO nearly requires driving to be a civil right. That sucks. But I really don't have an answer to this problem when proposals to address this are either voted down or end up ridiculously over budget.

Considering the sheer vastness of the continental US, it's not surprising to me that there haven't been many good plans to remove our dependence on cars. The only options, really, for good nation-wide transport are trains and planes. Trains have an incredibly expensive infrastructure, especially the high-speed trains needed to traverse the thousands of miles between the East and West coasts. Planes are slightly less…

Long-distance and regional transport needs are significantly different from local ones, and different land-use and activity patterns can hugely reduce transportation needs. The fact of a large country doesn't mean that individual urban areas can't be designed for mass transit or walkability.

If you can find shopping, school, recreational, and work activities within a few blocks (or at most a few miles) of one another, then a car becomes more a nuisance than a requirement. The exceptions become trips out of town -- the outdoors, visiting friends, etc.

Shopping can be dealt with through deliveries (scheduled and bundled, or online). Or local pick-up and a cart, wagon, or bike trailer.

Trades and crafts will still likely require transport, but that becomes an outlier exception.

Depending on what long-term fuel and economic trends look like, I suspect the US will see either regional high-speed rail or plain-old conventional slow rail. Aviation with expensive fuel becomes an expensive proposition. Roughly half a large jet's take-off weight is fuel, and for an efficient airliner at 40 passenger miles/gallon, a 3,000 mile flight involves 75 gallons of fuel -- at 6.8 pounds per gallon, that's 510 lb. of fuel, 2-4x the weight of a passenger. And while trains can be electrified, the options for doing so to aircraft pose a few larger technical hurdles.

Re: Mike Ey, Microsoft HoloLens designer, killed in hit and run

#200

Post by justincormack » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 2:07 PM UTC

jordanthoms wrote: post #185

dilap wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love driving, but man, it sucks to build a city around it. I'm living in SF right now, carless, and skate a lot. It's fun, but holy shit does it suck constantly having to dodge oblivious drivers, asshole taxis, and homicidal MUNI drivers. I have a fantasy where the whole city is grass and bikepaths. All normal deliveries are by bike, & if you really need to move something big, you get a special permit to rent a tru…

My fantasy is to build a city with lots of roads, but put them underground. Street level can be solely for pedestrians, bikes, and vehicles delivering things on that block (although most buildings would have underground road access).

London tried to have a form of that, where pedestrians could go on raised walkways, while the cars owned the roads underneath. Fragments remain around the Barbican in the City of London, and you can see blocked off unfinished walkways.

Underground roads are being suggested in many places as they free up land for buildings.