[ale] OT - Cars on highways

[Jay Lozier]

On Mon, 22 Jul 2013 12:58:15 -0400, JD <jdp at algoloma.com> wrote:

> On 07/22/2013 12:33 PM, Greg Clifton wrote:
>> Well, Ford and GM have said they will have "autonomous-mobiles" as I  
>> call them
>> commercially available within 5 years. The hold up will be  
>> legal/insurance
>> hurdles as the article mentions, not technical issues.
>>
>> Technically it should be possible within 5-10 years, just don't pickle  
>> your
>> liver during the wait ;-)
>
>
> When I worked for Ford, ... er ... in the early 1990s, they had a system  
> for
> high-speed highway driving that would electronically connect lines of  
> cars with
> 3-18 inches of separation.  They claimed that double the number of  
> vehicles
> could travel at 80mph this way than under human control.  Sensors were  
> required
> in the road that the vehicles could communicate with, not just between  
> the
> vehicles.
>
> Seems like this would be a good first step to safe automatic highway  
> driving.
> Cars would go faster, so early adopters would ahve a reason to pay for  
> the
> system.  Interstate freeways have a fairly uniform quality level (except  
> I-75
> south of Macon),
>
> The 5-10 yrs has been "coming" for 20 yrs. Standards, funding and  
> political will
> are needed. It isn't a technology issue at all.
>
> 30-40K drivers die every year on roads in the USA. Entire industries  
> have sprung
> up around that, including federal departments.
>
> 5K people were killed one day in 2001 and entire industries have sprung  
> up
> around that, including completely new federal agencies.
>
> Which of these SHOULD get more funding?  Which does?

Highway/traffic safety kills and maims more people than terrorism in the  
US every year. While it truly sucks to a victim of a terrorist, you are  
more likely to be killed or injured in a traffic accident.

The funding is perverse because the terrorism is being exploited by both  
parties for political control of the masses. <rant> Just a different  
flavor of Hitler running the show. </rant>



-- 
Jay Lozier
jslozier at gmail.com