Cars-How Long in the Anonymous Box?

woolfish asks: "So the U.S. is the nation of 4-wheeled cubicles, bitching and moaning about $2/gal gas when Europe's doing >$2/liter. But with all talks of high-tech aside, a car still has only 3 boolean data channels (R/L blinkers, horn), 4 if you count the finger. Is someone gonna get off their ass and figure out a way to work inter-car communication, or are we going to stay pissed off and silent during rush hour for the rest of our lives? What do you folks think, are there any solutions in the works, do you have any good ones, or is silence really golden here?" Sounds cool, and there are several areas where such a thing might be really useful. But are you -really- sure you want to listen to the flurry of foul epithets that must certainly issue out of drivers mouths daily during the long morning and evening commutes?

Comments

Move the fsck over already!

[Tony Shepps]

Look, buddy, you might think 70 is way wangin' fast, but frankly we speed daemons are tired of your me-first attitude where you'll stay in that left lane as long as you please. That lane is for passing, not for feeling smug that you can self-righeously put some distance between you and the cell-phone user. It's called the passing lane, so once you've gotten around the blue hairs, get back in the right where you belong so we can get done with the business of doing what the lane is really there for. I know you like to think that your Accord goes as fast as anyone should go, but please, there are some of us out here with real European vehicles who are tired of waiting behind your commute appliance. If you want to go slow, find a school zone, that's what they're there for.

- obviously tongue-in-cheek

Re:There are a lot more data channels than 4

[bluGill]

The problem with banning cell phones it is doen'st take into account all the reasons to use one.

the "valley girl" trying to drive while the conversataion goes "And mike, ya know, he is two timing Julie." "Like wow, like what is she going"... (Okay, so I do a horriobal impression, buut you get the idea) should hang up and drive.

In my area there is a number I can call to get traffic conditions, if I call right before I get on the freeway I can find out about bad conditions and sometimes take a alternate route. I'm not as safe for the minute I'm making that call (Though I chose a fairly low risk area to make it), but I'm safer overall since I spend less time in heavy traffic.

And do you really want to pull someone over, for cell phone use, who just got a phone call "John, mom's in the xx hospital and with yy, and the doctors say she has 1 hour to live! Get here quick!"

Re:Digital communication protocol already standard

[bluGill]

Think carefully before you propose the turn signal come on when you turn the wheel.

Take a typical 4+ lane road. Can your algorythm tell the difference between "I'm turning the wheel left to move into the left lane", and "I'm turning the whell left because the road curves to the left." Now combine the two situations. Now take the person who decides to switch into the left lane on a right hand curve, meaning the wheel has to move less!

Of course all this ignores the major thing: as the driver behind you, I don't want to see your turn signal to tell me that you are changing lanes, I want to see your turn signal to tell me that you will soon be switching lanes and I should make some room so I'm not tailgating you as you move over. (I know that I'm the exception to the rule, and I'm supposed to put 3 feet between me and the guy in front of me whenever someone wants to change into my lane, but the bad habit of curitcy is hard to break)

Re:Matt Helm's tailights-prior art

[Daffy Duck]

"Murderer's Row", 1966

Re:There are a lot more data channels than 4

[turg]

Tower wrote:

anyone driving while talking on a cellphone should be shot. If it is a completely hands-free set, that's ok, but

I read a newspaper article about a study that had recently been done, which indicated that using a hands-free model was no improvement -- i.e. it is the distraction of a telephone conversation that is the problem, not the manual use of the phone. Which, to bring this thread back on topic, may be a good reason to stick to those more basic forms of communication.

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Oh, dear.

[Sebbo]

I agree with Cliff. More communication among drivers would be a Bad Thing. Even apart from the increase in violence, do we really need another thing to distract drivers from the road?

Re:There are a lot more data channels than 4

[Tower]

anyone driving while talking on a cellphone should be shot. If it is a completely hands-free set, that's ok, but I nearly got killed by some dumb 18 yr old girl 'driving' a puke chartruse Cav while jawing away...

I've always liked the studies that compare the accident rates of cell-phone drivers to drunk drivers... and what about that town in (Ohio?) that outlawed driving and talking. That's the best.

State Troopers should pull people over for reckless endagerment and ticket them. Make our world a better place, and give me some laughs at the fools on the side of the road.

(That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it - you don't have to agree)

There are a lot more data channels than 4

[georgeha]

But with all talks of high-tech aside, a car still has only 3 boolean data channels (R/L blinkers, horn), 4 if you count the finger.

Fer instance, how about a cell phone presence and a cell phone using?

I know if I see someone driving while using a cell phone, I try to give them a wide berth, the information that communicates to me is to expect weaving and erratic braking.

How about headlights? We've all experienced Jeff Gordon wanna-bees who tailgate you in the left lane of bumper to bumper traffic, then flash their headlights, expecting you to pull into a crowded lane so they can go 75 instead of your 70.

And let's talk about bumper stickers. Fer instance, if I see a lot of Grateful Dead stickers on a car, I give that car a lot a room, no telling when an acid flashback might occur (though I'm still waiting).

George

People don't use...

[FlavorDave]

People don't use the signaling equipment they have on their cars now, I don't think another gadget attached to the car is going to make them pay any more attention to their driving.

I think its mainly a problem with the "American" licensing system... Driver's education was a joke, and besides being shown some gore films on safe driving, the whole rite is really not taken that seriously. Also, Americans view driving as a right, not just a privilege. Note the standard "I paid my taxes and I can do whatever the hell I want" attitudes and their variants (Drive as Fast as I Want, Drive as Close To You as I Want).

This is just one example, but last month we had an incident close to our town where an 80 year old driver backed into a school building, mowing down 6 kids in the process. I would hate to have to break it to their parents that this 80 year old will not have her license privileges taken away or even re-evaluated. (That AARP lobby is pretty powerful these days).

Flavor "Wheels of Tragedy" Dave

OT: PA town enforces talking while driving ban

[Cy Guy]

NEW BRITAIN, PA - Driver fined $75 for driving while on phone:

Dan Young says he never thought calling his mother from the road to tell her he was on his way home would make him an outlaw.

In Hilltown Township, home of the state's first local ban on handheld phone use while driving, it did. And yesterday a judge told Young, 42, that even though he was not aware of the law - Young lives in Fleetwood, Berks County - he was still guilty of violating it and will have to pay a $75 fine.