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Cars should have a regulator installed by the manufacturer to limit speed to 20mph on roads with people, and to 60mph on grade separated highways. This maximum
by namesbc 4y ago
Cars should have a regulator installed by the manufacturer to limit speed to 20mph on roads with people, and to 60mph on grade separated highways.
This maximum would barely change your time to destination, but it would save thousands of lives per year.
- 20mph: 90% survival rate
- 30mph: 60% survival rate
- 40mph: 20% survival rate
https://www.betterstreetschicago.org/blog/chicago-speed-cameras-ticket-threshold-vote https://www.betterstreetschicago.org/blog/chicago-speed-came...
- lsh123 4y agoStaying home on the couch: 100% survival rate
- fipar 4y agoA sedentary lifestyle will increase the chances of circulatory diseases though, so close to 100% survival rate, but not there :)
- drdec 4y agoUntil someone drives into your house
- midoridensha 4y agoThe other thing you can do is move to a city where most people get around with public transit or walking/biking.
- lupire 4y ago
- MontyCarloHall 4y ago>This maximum would barely change your time to destination Yes it would. The drive from LA to San Francisco is about 300 miles on Interstate 5. Much of this highway is completely straight, with excellent visibility through an unpopulated desert. When sparsely trafficked (as it is much of the time), it is safe to drive 80+ MPH on I5 for hours at a time. At 80 MPH, this is a 3 hour 45 minute drive. At your proposed 60 MPH, this would be a 5 hour drive. >but it would save thousands of lives per year. How many lives do you think would be saved by capping speeds to 60 MPH on I5? If alcohol or distracted driving are not factors, I would say probably close to zero. As a fun aside, the fatality rate on the unrestricted German Autobahn is about half the fatality rate across all US highways, and is comparable to other similar European countries’ highway fatality rates. I completely agree about lower speed limits in cities, however, where pedestrian deaths are the main concern. While I don’t think a governor in the car would be practical or safe (what if I’m rushing because of a medical emergency?), automated enforcement would serve the same purpose.
- unsupp0rted 4y agoPeople shouldn't really drive 300 miles in individual private vehicles. Apart from the chance of accidentally killing oneself or others, it's hugely inefficient. If we changed an interstate full of cars to high speed trains (or hyperloop or whatever) which depart every half hour, it'd be safer, cheaper, cleaner... you name it.
- rootusrootus 4y agoSo what should I do? Take a train? Doesn't go there. Bus? Again. Fly? That's not more efficient. Maybe grandma just doesn't need a visit from her grandkids. Instead, I bought an electric car. I bet it compares quite favorably to a typical bus. And grandma does like to see her grandkids, let me tell ya.
- bee_rider 4y agoI expected to see better performance from the bus, but it is surprisingly poor: https://ourworldindata.org/travel-carbon-footprint https://ourworldindata.org/travel-carbon-footprint Haven't dug into their sources, but I assume this is because buses often run with low utilization. Anyway the answer is trains, the answer is always trains in public transit.
- rootusrootus 4y agoTrains are a tough sell, at least in the western US. So much wide open space, trains are slow, high speed trains too expensive to justify given the sparse population. I remember once doing the math and finding that there are many times when our local light rail is less efficient than just putting four people in a sedan. When the train is full, though, it's unbeatable. EVs throw another wrench into that math since they're so much more efficient than ICEVs.
- bee_rider 4y agoNot to mention, eventually the whole grid should be mostly renewable rendering questions of efficiency more-or-less moot.
- hintymad 4y agoWhat if occasionally you need to accelerate to a higher speed to avoid an accident?
- kfarr 4y agoWhat if that were a fecetious argument proposing a situation that does not happen in real life that people bring up when speed governors are discussed?
- nostromo 4y agoIt happens all the time. People regularly speed up when passing to limit time in oncoming traffic lanes. Limiting speed in such a scenario could reasonably lead to a fatal accident.
- anigbrowl 4y agoIt's not facetious. I used to ride a motorcycle and oblivious or sometimes malicious drivers were a constant hazard; I'd say I got out of trouble by speeding up as often as slowing down, and I am not into speed for its own sake. Acceleration and maneuverability are as important as braking and (for larger vehicles) structural integrity.
- hotz 4y agoAgreed, riding bikes gives us a different perspective on it all. I'd say we're generally more aware of our surroundings and other vehicles. A lot of the suggestions just won't work. Rules/laws/devices etc won't get rid of the human factor. Some people just lack the ability to be considerate to others.
- leetcrew 4y agoit's not that rare. a pretty common one (in my area, anyway) is someone starts merging into you from the side while someone is riding your bumper. if you slammed on the brakes, it wouldn't be "your fault", but it would be much better to just speed up and avoid the collision.
- 4y ago
- SilverBirch 4y agoWell done, you've specified a superset of self driiving without delivering any economic benefit. Oh, and every road in Europe is now a hazard because you've designed new cars with absurdly low speed limits. But no I'm sure your baselesss opinion on speeds is best.
- robotresearcher 4y ago> without delivering any economic benefit. You've saved an enormous amount of energy.
- Drunk_Engineer 4y agoEurope is now mandating intelligent speed limiters, so I don't know what you are getting on about.
- MontyCarloHall 4y agoNo, they are not. Cars must alert the driver if they are exceeding the speed limit, but there is no forced limiting. https://jalopnik.com/no-europe-didnt-just-force-automakers-to-install-spee-1849191252 https://jalopnik.com/no-europe-didnt-just-force-automakers-t...
- Drunk_Engineer 4y agoMany expect the EU to eventually remove override capabilities as the systems become more widespread.
- rootusrootus 4y agoGiven how low the actual rate of fatalities is compared to miles driven, you are proposing that we significantly lower the bar for when we think government intervention is the right answer.
- notatoad 4y agothe government already owns the roads and enforces speed limits. speed governors are already required for scooters and e-bikes in many jurisdictions. requiring cars to have the same limiters as scooters if they want to access the government-owned roads is not a huge change in scope.
- rootusrootus 4y agoEven a Tesla can't reliably figure out what the speed limit is sometimes. I don't know that I want a governor that may suddenly decide I can only do 25 mph on the interstate.
- zip1234 4y agoEven just capping all road worthy vehicles to 80 would probably save a lot of lives.
- BitwiseFool 4y agoCar manufacturers who voluntarily implemented this would go out of business so fast. Politicians who propose making this mandatory would face constituent uproar. Limiting cars to 20mph on most roads would energize disengaged constituents like you wouldn't believe.
- throwaway0a5e 4y agoGood. Companies and politicians that favor the vocal few over the masses should face consequences for their actions. The public gets what it wants. Even if what the public is stupid.
- noobermin 4y agoe-bike and e-scooter manufacturers have not gone out of business over similar speed metering and geofencing, it can and should be done for cars.
- BitwiseFool 4y agoe-bikes and e-scooters are relatively new. It's not like people were able to use these things for decades unrestricted and now they have to be throttled.
- pif 4y agoSorry, but no. Cars are meant to move people around, not for strolling. Every road and every situation have a reasonable limit, which is often higher than what you posted.