I have an idea for a new TV show.
It will follow a company that installs speed governors and brethalizer ignition controls in peoples cars.
It will be called: Gimp My Ride.
I have an idea for a new TV show.
It will follow a company that installs speed governors and brethalizer ignition controls in peoples cars.
It will be called: Gimp My Ride.
I saw a news ticker headline that Elon Musk has announced the first completely autonomous car. I look forward to seeing the results of it encountering the UK's more bizarre roundabouts and outer London's 'anything goes' racetrack roads which don't even have lane markings. And good luck trying to obey the speed limits on variable speed motorways where half the signal gantries are out of order :-(
AJ
Bearing in mind that somewhere around 99% of drivers exceed the posted speed limit when there is not a traffic cop in sight - what's going to happen when Elon's cars try to obey the law?
Traffic clogs and irate drivers are the predictable outcome.
Perhaps the MuskMobile will instead "go with the flow", in which case how can the driver be charged with speeding? "The car did it, officer, I was an innocent bystander!"
The car did it, officer, I was an innocent bystander!"
Already dealt with in regards to cruise control. The operator of the vehicle is responsible, with the possible exception of a proven mechanical defect. Most traffic laws read this way (i.e. operator responsible; if operator can't be identified, owner responsible, e.g. red-light cameras and speed cameras). True for US, and likley many other jurisdictions.
Yep, true here also, as far I know. If car breaks the law and effort to identify operator at that moment is not successful the legal owner is the responsible party. Your claim of your vehicle being stolen has to be registered before the accident, or else that's no defense, unless proven in separate case.
By the way, the same is true with guns here. Stolen gun can easily land murder charges on the legal owner.
I read something on SOL yesterday. I thing it was talking about a level 6 autonomous car. Level 5 being the max, but a level 6 can also yell and curse out other drivers/ cars.
level 6 can also yell and curse out other drivers/ cars.
Likeliest vehicle for implementing this: Chrysler brings back the New Yorker.
One afternoon as we were closing up shop, one of our regular customers stopped by and invited us to take a ride in his brand-new 1960 Lincoln Continental. We all pile in, he heads for the freeway, and hits the gas. We're doing about 100mph when a cop pulls him over.
Our friend rolls down the window, blows a puff of cigar smoke at the officer, and says "Fast, ain't it!"
You can imagine how that went over. Then said friend hands his license to the officer, who takes one look, hands it back, says "Ya'll drive carefully now" and stomps off.
We're sitting there amazed at what just happened, and our friend says: "Legislature is in session." and goes on to explain that state legislators cannot be detained for any charge less than a felony while the legislature "might" be voting on something. (He was a state senator.)
In years past, it was common to have cops pull over and delay Republican legislators whenever the Democrats had a bill they wanted to sneak thru. When eventually the Republicans got enough votes, they passed this law to prevent that from happening.
So what does everyone have to say about the fact that, currently, very few people are willing to drive at the posted speed limit, even knowing that there are fines and points involved if they get caught?
Does anyone think they'll happily agree with their new car's insistence on obeying the law?
Do you think people stuck behind them will be understanding?
Or, as I do, think that this will be a public relations problem for Musk, once a significant number of self-driving vehicles occupy the roads?
Program the cars to exceed the posted limit by 10mph. Cops don't usually bother ticketing until you get beyond that, unless they're way under quota.
But yeah, just like the speed governors on semis, autonomous vehicles driving like grandmas that can barely see over the steering wheel would be annoying.
Program the cars to exceed the posted limit by 10mph.
Or more likely, to adapt to the general flow, even if it goes slightly above.
Here, the automated photo-radars will ignore +3km/h to +5km/h, depending on location, some are programmed to be more zealous than others. Live cops ambush may or may not bother with +10km/h, with is the unofficial *unobserved* speed limit (so, 100km/h instead of 90km/h outside urban areas). Above that is trouble, and at +20km/h the shit gets serious for real, if caught.
There's few specific stretches were higher speeds are common and seemingly *almost* tolerated despite being officially illegal. Including for example, the rare fragment of triple-line road between metropolis and beach. With official speed limit at 90km/h, the right lane will typically go 85-95km/h, the middle 95-110km/h and the innermost left up to 120-130km/h without triggering attention. But try to overtake on the right and you will be chased down by the patrol bikes.
Around here, you can look at the law. 1-14kph over, small fine. 15+kph over, bigger fine plus points against licence. Generally if you get stopped going
Here until we switched to euro (and long before cop bodycams) it was fairly customary to keep a folded 5Ls banknote (~9$) with your license. Of course it dissapeared when you *accidentally* gave it to the officer together with the license...
Wouldn't work if it was something serious, but would stop him writing up for 10km/h or a burn out light, or going to search for first aid kit or any other minor reason for plain extortion.
Program the cars to exceed the posted limit by 10mph. Cops don't usually bother ticketing until you get beyond that, unless they're way under quota.
Oh, I know a lot of towns that would love that!
Jordan Valley, Oregon is well known to those in the region for being hypervigilant for their speed laws. When you are still 3 miles from town, the highway speed drops from 55 to 35. Then down to 25 all the way through town.
I still remember driving through there in 1985 when I was going home on leave. I knew the town, and how it was. SO hit cruise control and drove a few miles under the limit. And sure enough, within a mile I had a cop following me (I had California plates). He was way back in a largely unmarked car, but I knew the colors. Drove to a gas station to get a soda, and he pulled in and asked if I was lost. I just said I was going home to Boise and he laughed and took off.
And they mean it. Drive just 2 miles over, you are gonna get pulled over. Pocatello and Emmett in Idaho are the exact same way.
And 10 MPH over the limit, every cop is going to be loving to hang out in a school zone or construction area then. Most have double fines (or more) in those area.
I once read a news story that the Virginia Legislature had passed a law saying, statewide, you cannot be pulled over or given a ticket unless you are 5 mph over the posted speed limit. If you exceed the speed limit by 6 mph, you get charged with exceeding the speed limit by 6 mph - not 1 mph. But the first 5 mph are "free" - by state law.
For those of you who do not believe news stories, assume there is no such thing as speed limit in Virginia.
It's not fair to punish drivers for going a little over the speed limit because car speedometers are not very accurate. I believe manufacturers are permitted to be out by 10% by law in some countries. Mine errs on the 'right' side - when passing one of those signs that light up and show your speed when you drive past, the sign reckons I'm going about 10% slower than what my speedometer is showing.
AJ
IIRC, state law where I'm at allows you to dispute a speeding ticket on the basis of your speedometer being off, but:
A) Burden of proof is on you to show that it's off.
B) They will make you go to the expense of having it fixed.
That sounds harsh to me :-(
The UK rule of thumb is that you're allowed to exceed the speed limit by 10% (the speedometer tolerance) plus 2mph. But some police forces don't stick to that rule of thumb, probably because they feel they need to be seen doing something and they sure as hell aren't solving burglaries,
AJ
That sounds harsh to me
It's all about the money. My state uses a points system for moving violations.
If you contest the ticket, you can plead down to a offense with fewer points, but you still have to pay the original fine.
The real fine comes from the insurance company - no matter what you do.
The government only cares about it's cut.
...and kickbacks from the insurance companies aren't part of the government's cut, apparently.
...and kickbacks from the insurance companies aren't part of the government's cut, apparently.
No, they aren't. Kickbacks generally go to line the personal pockets of specific officials, not the government coffers.
Ah, but what is the government, if not the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats that make it up?
Yes, but why should/would official A care about what's lining the pockets of official B.
They all care about what's going into the official government coffers.
They all care about what's going into the official government coffers.
Actually, they care about the amount of the money going into their own pockets from those official government coffers, and keeping that coming. So if official B has power over official A, official A cares about what official B tells him to care about.
Not here. Insurance won't cover any fines. And if you want even harsher rules, somewhere in Scandinavia (unsure of the exact country (or countries) at the moment) all ticket fines are expressed as percentage of your declared taxable income. So a simple speeding ticket can, and sometimes goes into tens of thousands of $$.
Insurance won't cover any fines.
Insurance doesn't cover fines anywhere. What they do, is raise your premiums, if you have a significant number of moving violations because you are a higher risk to insure.
Well, that's sure. Apparently I misunderstood what Eddie was saying. And, wanted to make point about those, sometimes insane sounding relative percentage fines. I recall one rich guy making headlines with hundred-grand range speeding ticket.
Here in Wisconsin, where I am, it's not income % but it's graduated based on how fast you were going.
There are 3 levels of speeding ticket minimal (0-10 over the limit), intermidiate (10 to 20 over), and excessive (more than 20 over).
Fines are:
Minimal: $X * MPH over limit
Intermediate: max fine for minimal + $Y * MPH greater than 10 over the limit
Excessive: Max fine for intermediate + $Z * MPH greater than 20 over the limit.
A single ticket for excessive speeding can get over $1K.
Yes, it's similar here (although I'm right out of my head unsure is it fixed levels (the points are) or formula based, or formula based over a level). The trick is, they over there use sliding coefficients for both speed over the posted, and declared income, multiplying those together.
Insurance doesn't cover fines anywhere.
I would clarify that to cover moving violation or infraction fines.
My wife and many others I know are long haul truck drivers. And one of the things they do cover is the fine associated with using a runaway truck ramp. Those can run from $500 up to $100,000, and it is indeed a fine.
But it is not an infraction, simply the fine charged to reset or repair the ramp so it can be used again. There may be others, but that is the first one that comes to mind.
But it is not an infraction, simply the fine charged to reset or repair the ramp so it can be used again.
That sounds more like a fee than a fine. But then again, some idiot politician could've used the wrong word in legislation, so I imagine it could've been tagged with either.
That sounds more like a fee than a fine. But then again, some idiot politician could've used the wrong word in legislation, so I imagine it could've been tagged with either.
No, it is a fine. It falls under the concept that the vehicle was not properly maintained and driven which caused the breaks to fail.
In the same way, a fine assessed non-punitively can also be paid by insurance, depending on the stipulation of the policy. The times that insurance does not step in is almost always when the fine is due to the negligence or illegal actions of the person who is insured.
My wife and many others I know are long haul truck drivers. And one of the things they do cover is the fine associated with using a runaway truck ramp. Those can run from $500 up to $100,000, and it is indeed a fine.
They may call it a fine, but it's not illegal to use the runaway ramp if your truck is running away. So it's not really a "fine" for breaking a law.
Plus, it's probably a lot cheaper to repair the ramp than to replace a truck, the cargo, and pay for all the dead people - which would be the likely outcome if the ramp wasn't used.
They may call it a fine, but it's not illegal to use the runaway ramp if your truck is running away. So it's not really a "fine" for breaking a law.
It is a fine because the operator obviously did not maintain their truck properly, or use it in a proper manner. Brakes do not simply "fail" without reason. Either because of poor maintenance, improper/faked inspections, or driving like a complete moron.
99.999% of trucks pass by the ramps and never use them because they maintain their trucks and drive correctly. For those that have to use it, they are fined for piss poor maintenance or driving.
And they mean it. Drive just 2 miles over, you are gonna get pulled over. Pocatello and Emmett in Idaho are the exact same way.
Depends on where in Pocatello from the experience of people I know.
I am talking about decades ago when I lived there. It might well be different now.
But at least into the 1980's, that was one of the towns we all knew to drive the speed limit in. Same as with Jordan Valley, and the section of Caldwell where the I-84 actually dumped you onto the surface street for a short distance.
They even had a big celebration in 1983 when they finally completed the bypass, and removed the last stoplight on I-84.
Lots of stories about Jordan Valley. City cop was highest paid cop in the state, because 90% of all fines went to his paycheck ...
In '79, while transferring from SDGO NS to my tin can in Puget Sound, with a stop in Nyssa to visit my folks, watched a CAL plated Caddy get stopped twice by troopers btwn NV/OR state line and Jordan Valley, and a third time in JV ...
For me here in Michigan as long as it isn't something completely stupid just being polite works in getting a reduced ticket or even a simple warning. I was on I75 at 4am doing 80 mph (speed limit then was 55 mph) I saw the cop ( Michigan State police they are the big boys) flip on his lights so I pulled over and was polite when he asked why I was speeding I explained how I just put the new motor in and was goofing off he ran my record and and it was clean so he told me it was my lucky day and to slow it down. But if you get pulled over by MDOT (Michigan Department of Transportation) their goal is not only to write out tickets and citations but to see how many they can write at one time. Ask any commercial drive in any of the 50 states and they can pull you over for an inspection at any time for any reason. My most favorite citation is dirty vehicle where the company name on the door get covered in dust. I live in an area where 80% of are roads are dirt.
There's also the "I have to be ahead of everybody in front of me" attitude, which you can see any day you drive the freeway.
I once was on the way to a police seminar on the opposite side of town, in a marked patrol car, light bars on top, and all. I noticed that the officer was driving a bit above the 65mph speed limit, but cars were passing on right and left.
I mentioned this to him, and he said people would pass him even if he was going 20mph over the posted speed, and proceeded to prove it. He set his (calibrated, I presume) speed at 85, and people still breezed past.
He said he could probably go 100mph, and someone would pass within a few miles. People are dumber than a box of rocks.
What are they going to do when they find out their new self-driving car won't take chances so they can be "first"?
Buy cars without windows, and use the time traveling for something else. Which admittedly most already do (except for the windows part) but would at least be safe.
Remember, it's only really because people are actively driving that they're that competitive about driving. Most people in a Uber or a cab or a limo aren't giving the driver a hard time about how he drives.
Interesting. In my neck of the woods, if there's a marked squad car on the interstate nobody wants to be the one to pass it.
It could be doing 20 under and people would be very cautious about passing it.
Years ago, I recall the story of a cop driving ten under, with a long line of cars behind him. Finally, someone passed. Cop lit him up and pulled him over. When the cop got to the driver, he handed him a half gallon of ice cream. Seems the cop had stopped at a store as he was coming up on the end of shift, and bought the ice cream to take home, but was then informed he needed to work overtime. So he decided to give the icecream to the first person with the balls to pass him.
I would like to see three's company but set in 2020.
The Landlord doesn't give a shit that a dude lives with two women, and Larry is the focus of the show.
My point about the insurance company, is its small potatos to worry about points and fines. You may have to pay a couple hundred bucks.
The next 7 years, your insurance goes up 50+ a month or so - that's the bigger deal and there is no shortcut to get that reduced. They don't care what you do with those points.
is its small potatos to worry about points
Fines maybe, points no. X number of points in any twelve months is an automatic six month suspension of your driver's license (that's what point systems are for).
X number of points in any twelve months is an automatic six month suspension of your driver's license (that's what point systems are for).
Also, car insurance premiums go up dramatically for drivers with points on their licenses. And the government forces drivers to buy insurance...
Also, car insurance premiums go up dramatically for drivers with points on their licenses. And the government forces drivers to buy insurance...
If you get enough points for a suspension, you can lose your insurance.
Get enough points over time, and no insurance company will cover you. (They have a program that splits the payments and claims across all of them which they use when they deem anyone to be too high-risk for any one of them to cover, but the rates are insanely high.)
If you are ending up with more than one ticket where you have to worry about the number of points, it won't be long before you can not afford to drive no matter what you do.
The next 7 years, your insurance goes up 50+ a month or so - that's the bigger deal and there is no shortcut to get that reduced. They don't care what you do with those points.
Your premiums increase more for infractions that carry points than for ones that don't.
And when the cop is 'nice' and downgrades the infraction when writing the ticket, there's no record of what the 'actual' infraction was for the insurance company to hit you with.
One of the best pieces of advice I got when I was young was from a LAPD cop teaching a high school civics class. All he said was even if you don't think you should have been pulled over show respect and don't lie to the cop. Back when I was younger I had been pulled over 30-40 times on my motorcycle (mostly for no real reason then to check me out.) and I would most likely have pot on me, They would ask if I had anything on me I would admit I had some pot and hand it over. All but once did the cop just have me pour it out and let me go.
Once I was pulled over and when asked why, the cop looked at me and said my sunglasses were illegal (which they were it turned out) but there was no way he knew that until he pulled me over as he came up from behind me. Twice when pulled over and asked why the cops were honest and said they were bored and hoped I would run. I told them I was sorry to ruin their fun but I wasn't that stupid.
All he said was even if you don't think you should have been pulled over show respect and don't lie to the cop.
Hell, be nice to the asshole and you'd be amazed what you can get away with. Although it's best if you accompany this with a lie that he can't know is a lie. One rainy night, just after closing the bar, I went through one of those checkpoints. It went something like this:
: Miserable night to be out for this, isn't it?
: Yeah. Had anything to drink tonight?
: Nope.
: Ok. You can go.
note: do NOT try this if you're so drunk that you'll muff the opening line. And really, it's such a different time now, it's really not worth the risk driving with a lot of booze in ya. (One day, I want to do a story about a near-future, about a mother who becomes a crusader type after her son is arrested and sentenced to death because he drove home after someone spiked his drink with alcohol and he didn't realize it.)
Hell, be nice to the asshole and you'd be amazed what you can get away with.
Funny can work too, if you get the right cop.
I've read one about a guy who got caught doing 52 in a 25 and claimed to be dyslexic.
Gabriel Iglesias has a couple of stories along those lines.
Knew a guy whose favorite approach to getting pulled over for speeding was acting disoriented, then explaining to the cop that he must've had another flashback. Cop would invariably ask him what kind of flashback. When he told them he was a former fighter pilot... most didn't give him a hard time.
Funny can work too, if you get the right cop.
The only time I have been arrested it was by a lady cop and as she was patting me down near the crouch she asks if I had any weapons' and I reply "None detachable" That cracked her up and made the rest of the arrest good.
Sticking to the speed limit is all very moral. But wouldn't it be dangerous to impose restrictions?
What if you found yourself in a position where one quick burst of speed got you out of a deadly situation?
Still, I suppose you could make the same argument against driverless cars; programmed to make life or death decisions on your behalf.
Sticking to the speed limit is all very moral. But wouldn't it be dangerous to impose restrictions?
Obviously you do not really know what a governor is. Mostly, they limit the top speed, but also they can limit acceleration rate.
And most cars actually already have them. Anywhere from 115-155 mph is what most are set to, but some vehicles like trucks often have them set even lower.
And if you are in a situation where a "burst of speed" in excess of what a governor allows is needed, you are probably already driving in a manner you should not have been in the first place.