Slashdot Mirror
Building the Zero-Fatality Car
CWmike writes "In the future, new cars might include an appealing sticker: 'This car is rated for zero fatalities.' John Brandon reports that Volvo, for instance, has launched a program called Vision 2020, which states, 'By 2020, nobody shall be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo.' It includes not just new protective measures in the car, but technology for communicating dangers to and from the car. Other car companies have similar, less formalized programs. As ambitious as it seems, Ed Kim, an analyst at automotive research firm AutoPacific, says the zero-fatality goal is achievable. In the next 10 years, there will be a confluence of safety technologies — such as road-sign recognition, pedestrian detection and autonomous car controls — that lead to safer cars, says Kim. Will your next car look something like this?"
Yes, because an automated car will jam a transmitting fork in the owner's head so that they will be forced to do their bidding. You'll just hop in your car and have absolutely no influence or control over it, because something that offers automation somehow erases all decision-making from the driver. You'll want to go get a pizza and the car will demand that you go to a farmer's market for some veggies, instead. Yep, that's totally how it is.
See, this is exactly the kind of absurd reaction Americans have to the simple idea that they could have an automated vehicle and a framework to support it. You mean I ain't gonna have my foot directly on the pedals and my hands directly on the steering wheel all the time? WHAT ARE YOU SOME SORTA FUCKIN' PINKO COMMUNIST?!"
Of course, who would want to spend their time reading or relaxing or having a conversation or getting some work done on the way to the office when they could spend their time tapping the gas and break in gridlock for a couple hours each direction of their daily commute?
I notice that most of your situations involve a semi at fault. I'd like to point out that more often than not it's the idiot in the four-wheeler who's at fault because he doesn't look before he tries to cross a highway and is plowed into by an innocent semi. Almost every fatality involving a semi around here comes from that situation. I'd be very impressed if Volvo can produce a car that allows anyone to survive that kind of "accident".
I buy a car assuming that I have to have a car with a nice, tight suspension and enough acceleration to get me going if I need to move rather than stop. Rather than slam my brakes and skid into people pulling out in front of me, I hit the brakes while checking the mirrors and downshifting; a fraction of a second later, I'm halfway WOT signalling and merging behind the car in the next lane that just passed me, and accelerating so fast that I'm riding his bumper 5 inches away once I've matched speed. Then it's time to normalize (ease off throttle, get some distance slowly so the guy I just merged barely in front of can also back off).
On a road at 40mph with a flow of traffic of 45-50mph (yes, people drive faster than the speed limit; I follow traffic flow because otherwise drivers keep moving around me, disrupting traffic flow and causing accidents), I've had someone pull out in front of me less than 30 feet away from being parallel parked. The guy pretty much turned full and mashed his gas, so he cut right out of the parking spot and half way across the road (look up "Boston left turn"). So, I had to 45-to-0 in under 30 feet starting from the point when the hazard occurred.
Can you stop that fast?
I can't. I mean, I CAN, but I have Dunlop Signature Sports tires instead of Bridgestone R060A Pole Position ultra high performance 90% silicone tread summer tires. I'd be sliding; my tires don't have the grab, even threshold braking. They came with the car, they're not horrible.
What I can do is brake, swerve sharp into his now vacant parking spot, then swerve back out just before slamming into the next car. The guy behind me of course had enough room to stop-- especially since he wasn't riding my bumper.
I don't buy a car with the assumption that these situations are going to happen and I'm going to take someone out. I buy a car with the assumption that I should probably take more Advanced Driving courses with Summit or Skip Barber or someone, and practice my collision avoidance techniques and my car control. If I hit something-- even something that was desperately trying to be hit-- I'm doing it wrong.
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