4 ms·

Seems like the right moment in time to legislate a maximum acceleration for street legal cars.

• makerofspoons 8y ago
  Why does the acceleration matter if we already regulate velocity?
  • londons_explore 8y ago
    Acceleration clearly impacts interactions between drivers. If I see a car stationary at a junction, I can assume that 0.5 seconds from now, it will either still be stationary, be a little further forward or a little further back. The range of possible positions is significantly reduced with an acceleration limit.
    • NullPrefix 8y ago
      By the same logic minimum stopping distance should also be regulated.
      • londons_explore 8y ago
        Arguably this is a good idea. If all cars had a precise 'maximum braking', then if everyone slammed the brakes on at the same time, nobody would crash. If some cars stop better than others, then if everyone slams the brakes on, the poor souls in cars that don't stop as well will collide. Keeping a safe distance between cars mitigates this though.
• londons_explore 8y ago
  Interesting concept. I suspect you'd have a lot of the car industry against your campaign though...
• extrapickles 8y ago
  It’s already regulated as reckless driving. If you burn rubber starting from a stoplight a cop will probably write you a ticket for it.
  • georgerobinson 8y ago
    A Model S, and most other 500HP+ all wheel drive cars with launch control don't burn rubber. The launch control and ESP are programmed to limit wheel spin as much as possible as loss of traction is not useful for maximum acceleration. There are a couple of good videos of Model S doing launch control on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8I-6_H0haAw?t=248 https://youtu.be/8I-6_H0haAw?t=248
    • mikestew 8y ago
      A Model S, and most other 500HP+ all wheel drive cars with launch control don't burn rubber. If one can afford a Model S, one can afford a lawyer to ask the judge for the court's accepted definition for "display of speed". My money says a Tesla with pedal mashed and launch control on would not fit the definition. All one is left with is pulling an illegal number of Gs, which I don't think cops have a measuring gun for yet. In the real world, I've launched plenty hard on motorcycles on a regular basis to this day, and have occasionally blown past a sitting cop while doing it (getting around traffic from a light, or what have you). No smoke from the rear tire, front wheel stayed on the ground, speed not exceeded (or not by much), I've never been pulled over. Squeal tires, or have another car next to you accelerating at the same rate, or maybe even an overly loud exhaust, and now you've got problems.
      • deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
• Mtinie 8y ago
  Legislation already on the books covering "display of speed" (intentional wheel-spinning, name varies by jurisdiction) and posted speed limits should already address your concern, don't they?
• andrewmcwatters 8y ago
  Excessive acceleration is already written into state speed laws.