yum update reflective-clothing sorry, couldn't resist.
Fuck HN has gone downhill.
Man charged in Durham hit-and-run that killed Seth Vidal
21–30 of 51 posts
Re: Man charged in Durham hit-and-run that killed Seth Vidal
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hit and run is a felony, especially failure to stop and render aid, while DWI is often still a misdemeanor. Not saying the dude was necessarily knowledgeable about that or weighing those options if he was intoxicated at the time. One of the posters also claims to have met the suspect and attributes the "smirk" to some sort of skeleto-muscular deformity, though it's hard to determine validity with anonymous internet p…
In most places in the US, a DUI is a felony if someone is injured.
He'd be charged with manslaughter probably.
Re: Man charged in Durham hit-and-run that killed Seth Vidal
#23The NTSB wants to make forward collision avoidance systems in cars standard. I wonder if it would be possible to spoof radar and/or IR return signals so as to trip the autonomous braking in a car that gets too close to a bike?
I remember seeing on Top Gear a review of a car with a collision detection system that could detect pedestrians. (I think it was a Volvo.) I wouldn't be surprised if it also detects bicycles without active cooperation from the cyclist.
Re: Man charged in Durham hit-and-run that killed Seth Vidal
#24This is utterly tragic. I lived near Hillandale rd in Durham and drove there almost every day. Not sure if it had any part in this accident, but the road is really poorly lit like most roads there.
When I moved it actually struck me how poorly lit the roads in Durham were, compared to where we come from in Europe. I'm guessing it's a mixture of being much more expensive (wider roads and much longer) and the city organizers not giving pedestrian/cyclists much thought (sidewalks seem to be scattered randomly around the town).
Re: Man charged in Durham hit-and-run that killed Seth Vidal
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
I want to think it is courage but I suspect it could be a phone call to friend or family from a police investigator or the description of a car on a public news or social channel, or seeing a neighbor notice the dent in the car. At that point he might have realized his only 2 options: get arrested or turn himself in.
Yeah I'm a bit cynical about that too. Since he already has a revoked license (what a surprise: a bad driver, driving badly), he also already has an attorney. I suspect that's who decided he would be turning himself in.
I've had my driver's license suspended on more than one occasion, and either couldn't pay the fines or forgot about it until I got the letter saying that my license had been suspended.
For what it's worth, I would recommend that everybody have their license suspended at one point or another. I never really knew how to drive safely before I had to drive knowing that any mistake I made might send me to jail.
I can't speak for the man in question, but if he's anything like me, 1) his suspended license may not speak at all as a reflection of his driving ability, and 2) if he was aware of the suspension, would likely have been on his best behavior.
Re: Man charged in Durham hit-and-run that killed Seth Vidal
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hey, don't ignore those security updates
You're kind of dick. Get over yourself, you're not funny. Please put a dollar in the douchebag jar.
This account looks like a repeat offender. :( Flag and downvote the comment and move on. Don't feed the troll.
Re: Man charged in Durham hit-and-run that killed Seth Vidal
#27yum update reflective-clothing sorry, couldn't resist.
Incredibly inappropriate. You do understand that a member of the community died, right?
I think HN has long passed the point where the passing of a community member has any effect on trolls. It's Eternal September.
http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/commenting-communit...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3468102
This was a pretty good example of something similar that happened an year back, and I'm sure there are more examples (I just never bothered to pay attention to them).
Re: Man charged in Durham hit-and-run that killed Seth Vidal
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Try thinking more than one step at a time. What will be the very next thing that happens if you actually succeed in doing this?
It would be made illegal immediately due to the potential for abuse.
Similar to how the emergency red-light-to-green traffic signal preemption devices were summarily banned in a lot of places after people figured out the very simple mechanism they use.
http://www.10news.com/news/driver-cited-for-using-traffic-li...
Re: Man charged in Durham hit-and-run that killed Seth Vidal
#29The NTSB wants to make forward collision avoidance systems in cars standard. I wonder if it would be possible to spoof radar and/or IR return signals so as to trip the autonomous braking in a car that gets too close to a bike?
I remember seeing on Top Gear a review of a car with a collision detection system that could detect pedestrians. (I think it was a Volvo.) I wouldn't be surprised if it also detects bicycles without active cooperation from the cyclist.
The company Autoliv has a bunch of such products, they're used by major car manufacturers.
See for instance http://www.autoliv.com/ProductsAndInnovations/ActiveSafetySy... which describes their "vision systems", the features of which include pedestrian-detection.
It's possible that Volvo has its own in-house tech for this, but Autoliv are huge.
Re: Man charged in Durham hit-and-run that killed Seth Vidal
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah I'm a bit cynical about that too. Since he already has a revoked license (what a surprise: a bad driver, driving badly), he also already has an attorney. I suspect that's who decided he would be turning himself in.
I've had my driver's license suspended on more than one occasion, and either couldn't pay the fines or forgot about it until I got the letter saying that my license had been suspended. For what it's worth, I would recommend that everybody have their license suspended at one point or another. I never really knew how to drive safely before I had to drive knowing that any mistake I made might send me to jail. I can't sp…
> I never really knew how to drive safely before I had to drive knowing that any mistake I made might send me to jail.
Huh? You drove after you knew you had a suspended license? You had to drive?
If I understand what it means to not have a license, the thing to do in that situation is to have someone else drive your car to a long-term parking spot if it isn't in one already, and just leave it there until you have it reinstated.