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Oculus Rift co-founder killed by gang trying to escape police

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Re: Oculus Rift co-founder killed by gang trying to escape police

#201
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My rule: if there are cars around, never cross (legally!) unless you have eye contact. That person making a right turn on a red light? They're likely looking left and will you over if you legally start to cross in front of them. However, I will note: even if you follow this rule, be prepared to jump out of the way. I have to, and often. I walk 4 miles/day in city streets. The number of times I've had to jump out of t…

When my friends and I discuss such things I like to emphasize that even if you as a pedestrian or cyclist have the right of way but you're hit and killed your objection is invalid since you're dead.

Every time I get to an intersection I can hear my Grandma's voice telling me, "You can be right, dead right"

Re: Oculus Rift co-founder killed by gang trying to escape police

#202
post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up in North America and now live in Germany, I can tell you what I think it is. In Germany everyone is required by law to register their address within two weeks of moving. Not registering where you live and accompanying information, etc is illegal. If you move and someone else is now registered where you lived, you are no longer registered. You cannot really do very many things without that piece of paper inc…

Thats half-true. Meldeverstöße are not uncommon and rarely acted upon. I was registered at my old flat for quite some time. At some point in time, you will get a nice notice that you have to change your registration. During that time, everything works quite well. Also, registering stuff like SIM cards on an address you are not registered at is also perfectly fine as that information is stricly for the state. The only…

Why would your car be towed for having open windows?

Re: Oculus Rift co-founder killed by gang trying to escape police

#203

This is a good reminder to always be a defensive and aware pedestrian. Just because you have the light or the right-of-way doesn't mean you are guaranteed a safe crossing of the street. Whenever I cross an intersection as a pedestrian I always look both ways (even on one way streets) and I always keep an eye on cars that are still in motion, especially those that don't appear to be slowing down. It's good to make the…

After being hit by a car when I was young, that's exactly how I navigate traffic as a bicyclist/pedestrian. Traffic rules create a useful abstraction but, if you want to be safe, the only non-leaky abstraction is seeing traffic as a collection of objects moving at various speeds which can optionally change acceleration or direction based on things like traffic lights / your presence / cats running across the road aft…

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Re: Oculus Rift co-founder killed by gang trying to escape police

#205
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Implying you can spot the drone. Best police drone would simply tag the vehicle and see where it is moving around, then apprehend the fugitive one he settles for a longer period (during the night usually).

You don't need to spot the drone. If they start getting used regularly, the escapees will assume it's there and may try to evade it anyway.

Yes, but how are they going to do that if they can't see the drone? How will they know when they have succeeded? Are they just going to continue driving recklessly until they run out of gas?

Driving evasively seems like a very good way to attract the attention of other officers who might not recognize the suspects' car. Once the cruiser is out of sight, the suspects' best bet would be to "act casual." If the drone can see the suspects then it doesn't matter how they drive, and if it can't see them then driving like a maniac only makes it easier to be found.

Re: Oculus Rift co-founder killed by gang trying to escape police

#206

This is a good reminder to always be a defensive and aware pedestrian. Just because you have the light or the right-of-way doesn't mean you are guaranteed a safe crossing of the street. Whenever I cross an intersection as a pedestrian I always look both ways (even on one way streets) and I always keep an eye on cars that are still in motion, especially those that don't appear to be slowing down. It's good to make the…

True but if your expectation is traffic travelling at 30, it's unclear if normal defensiveness will help you for a car going at 60+.

Re: Oculus Rift co-founder killed by gang trying to escape police

#207
Last night, I was walking to the store (the Walgreens next to the Berkeley Bowl, for you Bay Areans) and a drunk driver shot up onto the pavement about twenty feet in front of me. It was mere coincidence that my partner and I avoided the hospital or worse. This is a sobering thing to read the morning after that.

Seriously: there was nothing I could have done to avoid that. By the time I was reacting, the car was already on the sidewalk. It was luck. Yeah, be careful out there, sure. Can we have self-driving cars REALLY SOON PLEASE? I hear rumors that they work, and don't drink on the job.

Re: Oculus Rift co-founder killed by gang trying to escape police

#208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've grown up in Lebanon -- a third world country still recovering from a 15 year civil war(1975-1990). Traffic lights and rules are merely suggestions to people around here. If something is physically possible, like a car being able to fit in an pedestrian-only paved road or two cars being able to fit in a one-way street you can be sure that people will do it. It becomes an innate habit to always check both ways and…

I live in Canada in a small town with a fairly large (per capita) Lebanese population (Tweel, Haddad, Rashed, Jabour). We have bad drivers here but I am willing to bet we exported the behaviour to Lebanon not the other way around.

What do you mean "you exported the behaviour to Lebanon"? How?

Re: Oculus Rift co-founder killed by gang trying to escape police

#210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They won't even know they're there. Small, quiet drones thousands of feet up are practically invisible.

Once it's known that the police uses such machines, they know that they're there. Don't expect the conclusions to be in any way rational.

he doesn't mean they won't generally be there. he just means that they won't try to erratically avoid specific drones.
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