6 ms·

I always understood speed to be the main problem, not acceleration. If you're going to lock something behind regulation, shouldn't it be speed?

quonn 4y ago
I think it can be dangerous in a closed space, such as a garage, near a wall or inside a parking lot.
Scalestein 4y ago
Speed will make accidents worse (deadlier). Acceleration will make accidents more likely. Sports cars flooring it from a stop, losing traction and hitting a telephone pole is like a whole genre of YouTube videos.
- 0xblood 4y ago
  Acceleration does not make accidents more likely (well, technically, without the ability to accelerate, it'll be impossible to have a car crash, I guess?). Risky behavior makes accidents more likely. Not being able to control your machinery and still trying to push it to its limits makes accidents more likely. Here the problem is people who behave anti-social and ego-centrical. But that's behavior we like to generally encourage and then fix it by adding regulations around the most stupid things.
- Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
  > Sports cars flooring it from a stop, losing traction Traction control prevents this these days. It still happens, of course, because idiots WANT to spin their tires and so turn off the traction control. But spinning tires != going fast. Usually sports cars flooring from a stop are interested in speed, not tire smoke, so the TC is still on. That said, I know in my Model 3 Performance, I've floored it from a traffic light in the rain and had very little spin. It's insane how effective traction control is in an EV.
mlac 4y ago
This is an interesting question. If you’re accelerating and take your foot off the gas pedal, the car continues to accelerate until braking is applied. So if you accelerate very quickly to the speed limit, there would be a likely situation where you pass the desired speed unless you get on the brakes, which requires reaction time. But yeah - I don’t necessarily agree with regulating it away for safety - people need to have personal responsibility. But regulations could make car companies optimize for other variables though (like distance and economy) which could be good.
- aftbit 4y ago
  I'd love to delegate that part of driving to my car. Automatically maintain speed limit (+5 mph or so, or I'll be tailgated the whole way home) and following distance to the car in front of me. I'll just cover the brake and tap it if I see something wrong in front, at which time it can revert to manual speed control. Bonus points for maximum performance acceleration without overshoot to the speed limit if I am the first one stopped at a red light when it turns green. Adaptive cruise control is awesome, but the implementations I've used are unaware of the road's speed limit.
- thegrimmest 4y ago
  > the car continues to accelerate until braking is applied. Unless you're going downhill this defies our known understanding of physics.
  - vel0city 4y ago
    To be fair, the car is accelerating, just accelerating in a direction opposite from the current forward movement, resulting in a decrease of the vehicle's current speed. Probably not what they meant in that comment though.
- timbeccue 4y ago
  If you take your foot off the gas, acceleration should effectively stop, right? F=ma, so with mass held constant and the only forces being friction, a is actually slightly negative. So max speed happens as soon as you release the gas pedal.
AdrianB1 4y ago
It is not the speed that kills, but the sudden deceleration hitting a tree. Joking aside, acceleration can be a real problem. I ride a lot my motorcycle to work, shopping etc. I am closing to an intersection, I see a car that has to yield and when I am close enough, I am pretty sure I will not be hit even if the car is not yielding, which happens quite often (many drivers don't see motorcycles or ignore their rights). With a very high acceleration, the risk of getting hit is a lot higher.

quonn 4y ago

I think it can be dangerous in a closed space, such as a garage, near a wall or inside a parking lot.

Scalestein 4y ago

Speed will make accidents worse (deadlier). Acceleration will make accidents more likely. Sports cars flooring it from a stop, losing traction and hitting a telephone pole is like a whole genre of YouTube videos.

0xblood 4y ago
Acceleration does not make accidents more likely (well, technically, without the ability to accelerate, it'll be impossible to have a car crash, I guess?). Risky behavior makes accidents more likely. Not being able to control your machinery and still trying to push it to its limits makes accidents more likely. Here the problem is people who behave anti-social and ego-centrical. But that's behavior we like to generally encourage and then fix it by adding regulations around the most stupid things.
Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
> Sports cars flooring it from a stop, losing traction Traction control prevents this these days. It still happens, of course, because idiots WANT to spin their tires and so turn off the traction control. But spinning tires != going fast. Usually sports cars flooring from a stop are interested in speed, not tire smoke, so the TC is still on. That said, I know in my Model 3 Performance, I've floored it from a traffic light in the rain and had very little spin. It's insane how effective traction control is in an EV.

mlac 4y ago

This is an interesting question. If you’re accelerating and take your foot off the gas pedal, the car continues to accelerate until braking is applied. So if you accelerate very quickly to the speed limit, there would be a likely situation where you pass the desired speed unless you get on the brakes, which requires reaction time. But yeah - I don’t necessarily agree with regulating it away for safety - people need to have personal responsibility. But regulations could make car companies optimize for other variables though (like distance and economy) which could be good.

aftbit 4y ago
I'd love to delegate that part of driving to my car. Automatically maintain speed limit (+5 mph or so, or I'll be tailgated the whole way home) and following distance to the car in front of me. I'll just cover the brake and tap it if I see something wrong in front, at which time it can revert to manual speed control. Bonus points for maximum performance acceleration without overshoot to the speed limit if I am the first one stopped at a red light when it turns green. Adaptive cruise control is awesome, but the implementations I've used are unaware of the road's speed limit.
thegrimmest 4y ago
> the car continues to accelerate until braking is applied. Unless you're going downhill this defies our known understanding of physics.
- vel0city 4y ago
  To be fair, the car is accelerating, just accelerating in a direction opposite from the current forward movement, resulting in a decrease of the vehicle's current speed. Probably not what they meant in that comment though.
timbeccue 4y ago
If you take your foot off the gas, acceleration should effectively stop, right? F=ma, so with mass held constant and the only forces being friction, a is actually slightly negative. So max speed happens as soon as you release the gas pedal.

AdrianB1 4y ago

It is not the speed that kills, but the sudden deceleration hitting a tree. Joking aside, acceleration can be a real problem. I ride a lot my motorcycle to work, shopping etc. I am closing to an intersection, I see a car that has to yield and when I am close enough, I am pretty sure I will not be hit even if the car is not yielding, which happens quite often (many drivers don't see motorcycles or ignore their rights). With a very high acceleration, the risk of getting hit is a lot higher.