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Hard-braking events as indicators of road segment crash risk

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Re: Hard-braking events as indicators of road segment crash risk

#281

Post by nradov »

genocidicbunny wrote: post #272
Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's wild to me how often the left lane is not the fastest lane. I've had times where the right lane ends up being the fastest. On I-5 near Woodburn, OR, it's 3 lanes. So many drivers, including truckers, will often stay out of the right lane entirely to avoid being caught up in traffic coming on/off. Meanwhile, the left lane is going 5 mph under the limit because there's a left-lane camper somewhere miles ahead. So…

Truckers sometimes have a good reason to do that -- they can't brake or accelerate as quickly as a small vehicle, and thus can end up going very slowly if they stick with the right lane. To a driver going 3 exits down the 205 it's not a big deal, to a truck driver doing the same they may be at the end of a long haul up the I5 and every minute starts to count since it can affect their pay. And if you can avoid hard br…

That's not a good reason, those truckers are just assholes. I'd like to see the authorities enforce the law and fine them heavily. Put them out of business.

Re: Hard-braking events as indicators of road segment crash risk

#282

Post by drewda »

pishpash wrote: post #85
drewda wrote: post #3

What is the actual use of this? This research team used Google's first-party location data to identify San Jose's Interstate 880/US 101 interchange as a site with statistically extreme amounts of hard braking by Android Auto users. But you don't need machine learning to know that... San Jose Mercury News readers voted that exact location as the worst interchange in the entire Bay Area in a 2018 reader poll [1] It's n…

On the interchange in question, they can always redo how the merge is designed in the same space. There is no excuse for that.

Please see:

> It's not a lack of knowledge by Caltrans or Santa Clara County's congestion management agency that is keeping that interchange as-is. Rather, it's the physical constraints of a nearby airport (so no room for flyovers), a nearby river (so probably no tunneling), and surrounding private landowners and train tracks.

The most recent budget estimate is $1bn for any changes to this interchange

Re: Hard-braking events as indicators of road segment crash risk

#283

Post by hamdingers »

camel_gopher wrote: post #130
presidentender wrote: post #20

I got one of those dongles from my insurance company that plugged into the ODB2 port and reported my driving habits. I was a bad driver. It would frequently beep at me to let me know that I had braked too hard. I was mystified. "What should I have done differently," I'd think, as I raged at the objective machine that judged me so. The next time my brother came to visit, he called mom. "Oh, and presidentender is a goo…

The problem with increasing your following distance though is now you get other drivers cutting in, and you’re back to where you started

> you’re back to where you started

This perfectly illustrates this broken mental model that leads to endless frustration.

Unless you put the car in reverse, you are still making forward progress. If someone merges in front of you at 30mph then you traveled hundreds of feet towards your destination in the time it took them to do that. Chill out.

Re: Hard-braking events as indicators of road segment crash risk

#284

Post by rootusrootus »

luxpir wrote: post #210

Wait, what do they teach in North America? Never heard the term "following distance" before now. Sounds misleading. In Britain at least we call it "braking distance" and you're supposed to leave 2 seconds at least between you and the person in front. Count it off a lamp post/sign etc. In certain at-risk areas they use chevrons on the road and signs telling you to keep at least 2 chevrons between you and the car in fr…

> In Britain at least we call it "braking distance" and you're supposed to leave 2 seconds at least between you and the person in front. Count it off a lamp post/sign etc.

Indeed, that is the usual definition in the US for following distance. Along with a typical example of how to determine it for yourself.

We usually use the term braking distance to describe the distance that would be required to stop the car based on current conditions and speed. This is not necessarily going to be the same as the following distance.

Re: Hard-braking events as indicators of road segment crash risk

#285

Post by janalsncm »

appreciatorBus wrote: post #131
sagarm wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think highway driving requires hard braking, you're a bad driver.

Yes. If people are constantly moving into your appropriate head way this is doubtless annoying but the correct response is allow yourself to decelerate slowly to re-open that space again, repeat as many times as necessary, even if it means a bunch of agros end up in front of you. Better for them to be in front where you can see them, than behind or to the side, were you can't.

I try to maintain a constant speed in traffic, even if other people are speeding up and slamming on the brakes around me. Something like the average speed of traffic. Slamming on the pedals isn’t going to get you there faster.

Even if I do need to brake, speeding up more slowly also usually means I have more buffer time to slow down too.

Re: Hard-braking events as indicators of road segment crash risk

#286

Post by genocidicbunny »

nradov wrote: post #281
genocidicbunny wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Truckers sometimes have a good reason to do that -- they can't brake or accelerate as quickly as a small vehicle, and thus can end up going very slowly if they stick with the right lane. To a driver going 3 exits down the 205 it's not a big deal, to a truck driver doing the same they may be at the end of a long haul up the I5 and every minute starts to count since it can affect their pay. And if you can avoid hard br…

That's not a good reason, those truckers are just assholes. I'd like to see the authorities enforce the law and fine them heavily. Put them out of business.

I've done a few tours around the world on the interstate system, so I've seen my fair share of truckers. Yeah, some are assholes, but there are stretches and routes where their behaviour makes sense, even if I don't like it. It's on them for how they behave, but understanding why they behave that way can make it simpler to deal with them in real life. As real, squishy people, not a system of rules.

Would I love to see CHP or OHP fine every left lane trucker in the 'no trucks in left lane' zones? Hell yes, but until that happens, I understand the trucker behaviour.

Re: Hard-braking events as indicators of road segment crash risk

#287

Post by ssl-3 »

its_magic wrote: post #270
Dylan16807 wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sounds like pretty extreme, weird behavior that you are advocating. Advice for when someone is following closely in anger that summarizes to "try getting off the highway for a minute and if that fails call the cops." is suggesting you perform "extreme, weird behavior"? I don't understand your reaction at all.

The people in question weren't angrily following me. If that were the case, there's no need for any theatrics. The first weapon to be employed is a Middle Finger. If that proves ineffective, it's followed by a lugnut taken from a coffee can that I keep handy. If and when things get to that level, the person usually wises up quick and finds a new hobby. There are other tools available if the nutcase decides to escalat…

So just... let them go. It's easy to do.

Escalation usually doesn't improve things, including for the person displaying the universal finger (or throwing the lug nut).

You've got a choice: You can keep plodding along in your truck while you escalate and retaliate and get all grumpy and stuff, or just keep plodding along in your truck without any of that noise.

The errant, instigating driver won't really learn anything either way.

Re: Hard-braking events as indicators of road segment crash risk

#288

Post by Dylan16807 »

crote wrote: post #264
Dylan16807 wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cars making aggressive maneuvers around you is dangerous for you.

If plain old overtaking results in "aggressive maneuvers", you should not be driving a car.

The premise of this line of comments is that the other drivers are acting aggressively. Whatever you're picturing in your head is a different situation from what everyone else is talking about.

Re: Hard-braking events as indicators of road segment crash risk

#289

Post by crest »

Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #213
mountain_peak wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maintaining a safe following distance is incredibly challenging on busy freeways where hard braking is often 'required'. Most people have likely found themselves in this situation: vehicle changes lanes in front of you; you slow down to maintain a safe following distance, another car sees a gap and changes lanes in front of you. Repeat for your entire commute. Incredibly frustrating, and I've driven all over North Am…

> vehicle changes lanes in front of you; I will never understand why this is so rage-inducing for people. Changing lanes is a necessary part of navigating, even during busy traffic. People on an on-ramp will need to get in front of somebody . People needing to move back to the right because their exist is coming up will need to get in front of somebody . Your lane is not a birth right. Let people merge. > you slow do…

> I will never understand why this is so rage-inducing for people.

The train of tought goes something like this. You want to get to your destination quickly as just like everyone else and are doing everything correctly, but the assholes exploit that safety distance as a gap available for them to switch into and repeatedly forcing you to break to maintain a safe distance. Oh and the even less rational people think everyone overtaking them has stolen their rat race position.

Leaving a keeping a safe distance feels unsafe since other drivers will squeeze into it. Subjectively it feels safer to close the distance, but the numbers don't lie. Tailgating kills.

Re: Hard-braking events as indicators of road segment crash risk

#290

Post by Dylan16807 »

its_magic wrote: post #270
Dylan16807 wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sounds like pretty extreme, weird behavior that you are advocating. Advice for when someone is following closely in anger that summarizes to "try getting off the highway for a minute and if that fails call the cops." is suggesting you perform "extreme, weird behavior"? I don't understand your reaction at all.

The people in question weren't angrily following me. If that were the case, there's no need for any theatrics. The first weapon to be employed is a Middle Finger. If that proves ineffective, it's followed by a lugnut taken from a coffee can that I keep handy. If and when things get to that level, the person usually wises up quick and finds a new hobby. There are other tools available if the nutcase decides to escalat…

> The first weapon to be employed is a Middle Finger. If that proves ineffective, it's followed by a lugnut taken from a coffee can that I keep handy. If and when things get to that level, the person usually wises up quick and finds a new hobby. There are other tools available if the nutcase decides to escalate further.

I, uh, okay but I hope you realize that this is far more extreme than what the other person was suggesting!

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