The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018) • Hacker News Board

Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)

#51

Post by beaconstudios » Thu, Apr 14, 2022, 8:48 AM UTC

pandaman wrote: post #25

blamazon wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Symptom of a car dependent society I guess. Driving is a prerequisite for being an autonomous adult here (a state in the northeastern United States) so licensing requirements are mind bogglingly relaxed, and once you've passed the test once you can renew your license infinitely until you die. This approach really shows when you use our public roads. People largely either do not know all the rules and best practices,…

Watching Russian dashcam videos you'd think people found their licenses in a cereal box yet it requires a stern test with theoretical questions of the form "Here is an intersection, one street has a rail line, there are an ambulance, a fire truck, a military column and a bus on each side, who has the right of way?" (and the answer is that it's a bus because even though the fire truck would have a right of way normall…

Interestingly the Russian dashcam phenomenon is similar to "florida man" - it's availability bias. Florida has more published wacky crime stories partly because of their public records policy, and Russia has a lot of dashcams due to there being a lot of insurance fraud with pedestrians being "hit" by cars.

Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)

#52

Post by cjrp » Thu, Apr 14, 2022, 8:48 AM UTC

paxys wrote: post #35

litoE wrote: post #34

Many years ago I visited Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the flat parts of the city center, people would parallel-park their cars and leave them in neutral (very few cars had automatic transmissions) and without setting the parking brake. When you arrived and found a parking spot, there would be a man that, for some standard tip, would push all the cars in front or behind you, one at a time, until they were all bumper to…

I have found that across most of the world (including expensive "first world" countries in Europe) it is perfectly normal for cars to have random dings and bumps from everyday use. I had a tour guide in Italy who "nudged" the cars on either end while getting into a parking spot and no one thought twice about it. In the US it would have caused a mini riot. Over here for some reason it is socially unacceptable to have…

> In the US it would have caused a mini riot.

Is that true everywhere in the US? In NYC I saw a lot of cars with rubber bumper guards, presumably to protect against these little "nudges" when parking.

Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)

#53

Post by popcube » Thu, Apr 14, 2022, 9:34 AM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #48

mrb wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He means cars that do NOT have the feature may be unable to get out, as they may be trapped by cars that have the feature and park extremely close

Does he? He said imagine if that feature is mainstream - so I'm assuming other cars also have this system. Also, I don't understand why you'd blame the system if anyone gets "trapped" - you have your own eyes, no? Even when you park manually you have to judge if others can still leave. If the computer parks for you in such a way that makes others unable to leave.....then park somewhere else????? What is it with absol…

how can he know that guy do not have car with new function?

Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)

#54

Post by mattlondon » Thu, Apr 14, 2022, 9:44 AM UTC

paxys wrote: post #35

litoE wrote: post #34

Many years ago I visited Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the flat parts of the city center, people would parallel-park their cars and leave them in neutral (very few cars had automatic transmissions) and without setting the parking brake. When you arrived and found a parking spot, there would be a man that, for some standard tip, would push all the cars in front or behind you, one at a time, until they were all bumper to…

I have found that across most of the world (including expensive "first world" countries in Europe) it is perfectly normal for cars to have random dings and bumps from everyday use. I had a tour guide in Italy who "nudged" the cars on either end while getting into a parking spot and no one thought twice about it. In the US it would have caused a mini riot. Over here for some reason it is socially unacceptable to have…

In the UK this would be deeply frowned upon. Front + Rear dashcams would be used to claim on insurance and report a "hit and run" accident to the police.

I don't put it down to people trying to "make space", more down to incompetence IMO.

At least in the UK cars will generally be parked with the handbrake ("emergency brake" in the US AIUI) engaged, meaning that the back wheels will not move, so "nudging" a car will only damage it - if you are "nudging" hard enough to make the stationary wheels slide along tarmac, then that is quite some considerable force. A "little bump" can be enough to cause some expensive damage on modern cars.

So if you are "nudging" another car, I'd put it down to just being a bit of a crap driver who doesn't know what they're doing as you're basically simply driving into things (deliberately or accidentally)

Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)

#55

Post by kwhitefoot » Thu, Apr 14, 2022, 9:46 AM UTC

Cockbrand wrote: post #50

4wsn wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of my favorite things about living in Germany. I bought my current car in 2018; it doesn't have a single scratch. Back home I'd be lucky to go six months without some careless idiot damaging it.

It's in fact one of my least favorite things about living in Germany (not the pristine-ness, but the holiness GP mentioned). Cars are absolutely holy, many drivers absolutely freak out when you dare touching their car or take up precious road space with your unworthy bicycle. Traffic rules for cars are often mere recommendations, and breaking them goes unsanctioned. Prioritizing motorized traffic is a borderline reli…

Which part of Germany do you live in? It's really not a homogeneous place.

Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)

#56

Post by seszett » Thu, Apr 14, 2022, 9:47 AM UTC

DocTomoe wrote: post #39

litoE wrote: post #34

Many years ago I visited Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the flat parts of the city center, people would parallel-park their cars and leave them in neutral (very few cars had automatic transmissions) and without setting the parking brake. When you arrived and found a parking spot, there would be a man that, for some standard tip, would push all the cars in front or behind you, one at a time, until they were all bumper to…

That sounds like the French system, only they push the other car forward with their car instead of requiring some random car pusher guy. And somehow that is legal (?) Just over the border in Germany there's a good chance of getting beaten to death if you attempt something like that. Cars are holy here.

I'm not sure where this myth comes from but in France, although it's not a crime to slightly bump the car in front or before by mistake while parking if there isn't much space, it would be very much frowned upon to do it with enough force to actually move the other cars.

Using the handbrake while the car is parked is universal, and in most modern cars the handbrake activates automatically, so it would likely cause actual damage to try and move the other cars with your own. It's also not uncommon for people to put their car in 1st gear on purpose when parked (in my experience, mostly older people who don't fully trust handbrakes) so you'd be unlikely to move those at all.

It wouldn't be legal in any case, although I suppose it would be difficult to be covered by insurance without video evidence. If it happens when you aren't there then tough luck, but if you saw someone touch your car while parking you would go to them, check for damage and if there is indeed any damage you would both fill a constat d'accident (standardised European Accident Statement) to let your insurances sort it out.

Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)

#57

Post by kwhitefoot » Thu, Apr 14, 2022, 9:48 AM UTC

onionisafruit wrote: post #21

blamazon wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nowadays automated parallel parking is a relatively commonplace thing ("it's got smaht pahk!"[1]) and we have come full circle. Hardware complexity superseded by software complexity. Kinda neat. Interestingly, automated parallel parking systems are allowed to be used during road licensing tests in the area where I live, to demonstrate parallel parking competency. Same goes for all driver aid systems, including Tesla…

BMW has automated parallel parking, but I never use it because it is so slow. I love gadgets and automation so I tried, but I can’t in good conscience make everybody behind me wait while my car backs in at 2mph.

Get a Tesla, my 2015 Model S is easily faster then me, especially if the space is only just big enough. The first time I tried it I was so surprised by how quick it was that I stamped on the brake!

Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)

#58

Post by krab » Thu, Apr 14, 2022, 9:50 AM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #44

syrrim wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm assuming everyone just bribes their way through the test?

I don't think that's right. In Poland the theoretical test is just as stupid as OP said, with a lot of "gotcha" questions designed specifically to catch you out, and yet people pass without bribery and then drive like bellends on the road. Having said that, people drive very aggressively and frequently are inconsiderate, but I'd say they absolutely know what the rules are - they just choose to ignore them because the…

A different country, similar test. I remember you would just memorize the questions and their right answers. There was a limited set of questions, publicly available.

Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)

#59

Post by kwhitefoot » Thu, Apr 14, 2022, 9:51 AM UTC

dsego wrote: post #37

syrrim wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm assuming everyone just bribes their way through the test?

Don't know about russia, but in my country plenty of people driving without a license or with a suspended one. Also, no limit on how many times you can take the written exam, so someone maybe had to take it ten times, got lucky with the questions or memorised all intersections and passed. The more academic folk ace the written exam, but then struggle with the driving part. And when you fail the driving part, you don'…

Is there actually a strong correlation between what people intuitively think of as a good or bad driver and that driver's accident rate or accident severity?

Re: The “fifth wheel” parallel parking tool that never hit it big (2018)

#60

Post by naravara » Thu, Apr 14, 2022, 9:52 AM UTC

Animats wrote: post #46

dhosek wrote: post #4

There was another idea I remember reading about in the 70s or 80s in (I think) Omni Magazine : Four wheel steering: All four wheels can be rotated. with the steering wheel. Turn the wheels to a full 90° and you can then move the car sideways into a parallel space. A lot more practical than this plan which pretty much destroys all the trunk space. Especially, with an EV where you can connect motors directly to each wh…

The GM Hummer EV has that.[1] It can crab-walk. That vehicle is a remarkable technical achievement. It weighs 9,000 pounds, has 1000 horsepower, costs around US$100,000, and goes from 0 to 60 MPH in 3 seconds. It handles well, using an active suspension system to hide some of the problems of moving so much mass around. The stopping distance is rather long, though. CNN calls it "a brilliant execution of a terrible ide…

I had hoped an electric vehicle future would have meant a lot less road noise but if everything is clocking in curb weights in excess of 5,000 lbs I guess it won’t be as serene as I dreamed. Sad.