Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

fastcompany.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

641–650 of 954 posts

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#641

Post by vel0city »

admissionsguy wrote: post #423
anon_e-moose wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering the whole world, gun utility for the civilian population is clearly much smaller than car utility. You will also find even in US a higher number of individuals that have at least one car VS number of individuals that have at least one gun. Sure the reverse might be true for a minority, but the majority scenario is out there with plenty of statistical and empirical evidence. I'm neither pro nor anti-gun, j…

I am not comparing the relative utility of cars and guns, but questioning the claim that the utility of gun ownership is small.

If you're not in a warzone or deep in a jungle needing to fend of jaguars the utility of a gun is likely extremely small.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#642

Post by 542354234235 »

Digit-Al wrote: post #401
derwiki wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s gotten me aggressively tailgated and subjected to dangerous passing.

A little while ago I was doing 20mph in a 20 zone and got overtaken by someone on an electric bicycle lol

Which I have no problem with, since an ebike/pedestrian collision at 25 mpg would be less serious than a vehicle/pedestrian collision at 15 mpg.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#643

Post by paddy_m »

pclmulqdq wrote: post #592
marketneutral wrote: post #525

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point is that we should aim to solve it without surveillance / sacrificing rights. So in this case, increasing the fines / jail time is at least one alternative.

Raise the speed limits on major highways to match the speed of traffic, and strict enforcement will have a lot more support.

I'm as anti-car/pro urbanist as they come. I would totally support this. Speeding on highways doesn't bother me and is relatively safe. Speeding in cities endangers pedestrians and sees no enforcement. Stop signs aren't even obeyed any more (they require a complete stop, in case you forgot).

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#644

Post by ryao »

asoneth wrote: post #631
ryao wrote: post #553

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then instead of doing all of these increasingly draconian measures, perhaps we should try to copy the Germans. The interstate highway system itself was a copy of the German autobahn system. We should have copied it in all of its aspects. It is never too late to do this.

It does seem reasonable to find out what works in other countries and pursue the most effective and freedom-preserving approaches. However, in the interim I'd support draconian measures (e.g. cameras, speed limiters, more effective consequences) until Americans demonstrate empirically that they are capable of operating dangerous equipment with some degree of competence.

What interim? These are mutually exclusive approaches. Either you mimic what is known to work elsewhere, or you institute backward measures under the misguided claim that it helps. There is no embarking on both paths at once, since they involve doing largely opposite things.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#645

Post by afavour »

graemep wrote: post #527

Repeat offenders should not be allowed to drive. In the UK we have 12 points, and lose them for various offences. You get a fine, usually with the alternative of a course the first time. Speed again within 12 months and you get a fine and a minimum of three points (more if you are well above the limit). Speed again within four years and you will lose more points, and AFAIK pretty much guaranteed to be more than the m…

The problem with this model is that in a lot of places (especially in the US) public transit isn't a viable alternative to owning a car. So if your ability to drive gets taken away a lot of people just end up driving illegally. It's either that or lose your job, income and possibly home etc etc.

IMO a forced maximum vehicle speed is a useful middle ground option.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#646

Post by afavour »

_Algernon_ wrote: post #608
pc86 wrote: post #584

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure how incarcerating people who are guilty of a crime is unconscionable but monitoring everyone all the time and eliminating the ability to move from Point A to Point B privately is totally fine and no problem whatsoever.

This is specifically about a judge mandating tracking as a punishment for a crime. The comment I responded to suggested incarceration as a lesser sacrifice to rights.

And in no world is incarcerating a person a lesser sacrifice of rights than installing a speed limiter on their car.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#647

Post by austin-cheney »

ponector wrote: post #620
austin-cheney wrote: post #606

I have never understood the chronic war on travel velocity. Its like the war on drugs, but far more pointless. Speed is just one of many factors, and perhaps the least significant, in the frequency and probability of traffic accidents. Speed is absolutely a factor in the severity of an accident, but not the probability of one after accounting for all other variables. For example, if you leave sufficient distance betw…

You accept speed as a huge factor in the severity of an accident but cannot understand the war against speeding?

Even more severe than high speed is driving while sleepy, but nobody is proposing a law to regulate sleep. Also more severe than speed is the mass of vehicle. Severity is also far more impacted by vehicle mass, but I don't see any movement towards regulating vehicles be as heavy as possible.

I can come up with many more examples to illustrate the stupidity of focusing on severity and speed versus frequency and probability.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#648

Post by 827a »

globular-toast wrote: post #364
827a wrote: post #148

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Benjamin Franklin

Franklin was born 200 years before the automobile and more than 300 years ago today. I doubt driving a giant metal box around at 100mph was what he had in mind for essential liberties.

That's why I just said it, not Franklin. Did you think that Franklin posted that comment? He's been dead for like 300 years bro. Last I checked I am fully aware of the benefits and risks of driving giant metal boxes around at 100mph, I live with it every day.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#649

Post by SoftTalker »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #290
SoftTalker wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you'll have people not registering their cars. Which already happens a lot. They steal a plate or renewal sticker from another car or just drive with it expired.

Any cop car with LPR would instantly stop and ticket them tho. When you say a lot, by how much really? I suspect it's tiny.

Maybe. I see cars driving around without any visible plates at all sometimes, and they don't seem to get pulled over. Traffic violations seem to be the lowest priority for cops the past few years.

I think if you're the sort of person who would drive with a suspended license you would also drive with expired plates and no insurance.

Re: Virginia passes law to enforce maximum vehicle speeds for repeat speeders

#650

Post by austin-cheney »

542354234235 wrote: post #633
austin-cheney wrote: post #606

I have never understood the chronic war on travel velocity. Its like the war on drugs, but far more pointless. Speed is just one of many factors, and perhaps the least significant, in the frequency and probability of traffic accidents. Speed is absolutely a factor in the severity of an accident, but not the probability of one after accounting for all other variables. For example, if you leave sufficient distance betw…

Keeping sufficient distance doesn’t account for other lanes, where people could be entering or exiting your lane. Keeping all cars moving within 20-30 mph of each other make everything else more predictable. Saying that speed is not related to probability is just false. You can mitigate risks at higher speeds to a point, but higher speed is more risky just by the fact of human reaction times and that roads are not a…

> Keeping sufficient distance doesn’t account for other lanes, where people could be entering or exiting your lane.

That is already accounted for in existing traffic laws, such as failure to yield or failure to signal.

Post reply on HN