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Jaberwock
Member
Joined: 30 Jan 2013
Posts: 722 | TRs | Pics
Location: Bellingham |
It's funny though, isn't it. We all think we're the best drivers on the road, but we all suck.
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Randito
Snarky Member
Joined: 27 Jul 2008
Posts: 9512 | TRs | Pics
Location: Bellevue at the moment. |
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Randito
Snarky Member
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 Sun Nov 26, 2017 9:48 am |
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| moonspots wrote: | | However I believe a better answer would be to require prospective drivers to attend a comprehensive driving school at their expense prior to obtaining a license to drive. And by driving school I mean they learn how to drive, not just how to operate the car, and memorize a few rules of the road. And this also includes every license renewal. Learn to drive being allowed to return to do so |
Such extensive driving school requirements are standard in Europe and Japan. It costs thousands to get a drivers licence.
It does reduce the collision rate among new drivers and it does keep a number of people from even becoming drivers.
But I think that features like good structural design, seat/shoulder belts and airbags are a big part of the reason why wealthy countries have lower death rates than poor countries, where people with zero training take to the road in ancient rust buckets and scant law enforcement.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate
Anyway, it's fine if you personally aren't going to operate a self driving car-- but you will be sharing the road with them. They are already on the road in some cities. If the safety record is as bad as you fear, the experiment will fail and expansion will "always be fifteen years away" But if the collision rate is better than human drivers -- self driving car usage will expand across the country.
Also "advanced cruise control" vehicles are already on the roads here in Washington and across the country. These vehicles navigate, steer, brake, accelerate, etc without driver intervention. Not just on freeways, but on local roads as well. They don't stop for stop signs or traffic lights. So the driver can't take a nap.
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Chico
Member
Joined: 30 Nov 2012
Posts: 2500 | TRs | Pics
Location: Lacey |
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Chico
Member
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Mon Nov 27, 2017 7:42 pm |
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Regarding self-driving or electric vehicles. Recently read an article written by a retired trucker regarding Tesla's electric semi. Suffice it to say the writer was not impressed by the cab layout. Single seat in the CENTER of the cab. More electronic toys than a trucker desires or needs. Visibility of the truck and it's immediate surroundings from inside the cab lacking due to the seat being centered for one.
Article here.
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Chico
Member
Joined: 30 Nov 2012
Posts: 2500 | TRs | Pics
Location: Lacey |
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Chico
Member
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Mon Nov 27, 2017 8:19 pm |
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| Jaberwock wrote: | | It's funny though, isn't it. We all think we're the best drivers on the road, but we all suck. |
Most of us anyway. Two collisions, neither my fault and I've been driving since 1972. One speeding ticket. Took drivers ed in school and still remember the day we hit the freeway/divided highway. Instructor told me to watch out for the curbing along the outside of the ramp. Then of course I failed my first exam. Downtown Aberdeen. Little traffic but I was stopped at a signalized intersection. Was told to make a left turn. Didn't yield and had to ask what I did wrong when we got back to the DOL office. As I recall the oncoming car didn't start moving and didn't honk either. Passed my second exam. Parallel parking was a breeze. Told to pull over to the curb. LONG stretch of open curb so I simply eased the car on over and stopped. Nowadays I can parallel park in a tight spot in a big truck with the best. Might take a multi-point turn to get in and out but I manage.
I still tend to hug the outside of the lane and make some nervous who choose to ride with me. Of course I'll hug the inside if I am in the inside lane but even so DO NOT enjoy the current drive along Lake Keechelus in the dark. Rumble strips can be your friend, especially in the snow. More so when you have a semi on your tail and you are passing other drivers with that semi in your rear view mirror. Of course in that kind of situation, 4-wheel, and new tires with siping are your friend as well. Paying attention to surrounding vehicles and knowing how to deal with driving in snow and ice is helpful. Instant wheel corrections are also a big help. Keeping your foot away from the brake is another.
Maybe I've been lucky. Some might call me an ass when I pass them in a driving rain storm or in driving snow. But I know when and how to use my brakes. Still remember the night going west over Snoqualmie Pass. Snow and Ice. Traffic on the west downhill side at a standstill due to semi's creeping along. I was in the inside lane behind a flatbed. Finally I see the pavement on the inside widening up. I went for it. Watched what I was doing from that point on including the driving rainstorm at the bottom all the way to North Bend. No one had the nerve to follow me that I could see. They probably should have shut down the highway and might have after I came through but don't remember. It WAS a nasty night to be up there!
Watched speeding vehicles bite the dust in snow and ice because they don't know when to slow down. "Go over a concrete structure/bridge? Let up on the gas. If you don't you can find yourself doing a 360 in the middle of the road" I've seen it! Same goes for when you hit water on the pavement. Let up on the gas. Do NOT use cruise control when driving in snow/ice or when water can be on the pavement and cause hydroplaning. And studs? Used to believe in them but when you have them on all four tires and you are sliding sideways at a dead stop, well, they are worthless.
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AR
724
Joined: 22 Aug 2007
Posts: 1514 | TRs | Pics
Location: Saratoga Passage |
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AR
724
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Sat Dec 09, 2017 6:46 pm |
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This land seems to produce the happy medium.
It will be one way or the other.
The computer cares not to be locked in jail. The human does.
Take all control from the human, or benign assist will be the rule.
...wait...are we just going to hang here or go hiking?
...wait...are we just going to hang here or go hiking?
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