5 ms·

Well, that seems like a horrible idea. I can imagine cars getting confused by where they are and forcing people to drive 30mph on a highway.

lazide 3y ago
I don’t think I’ve seen anyone in California willingly driving anything less than 15 over the speed limit - including the cops and CHP.
- bcrosby95 3y ago
  I like to drive 5 under the speed limit, in the right lane of course. I don't have to worry about swerving through traffic, slamming on my brakes, and generally jockying for position just to shave 30 seconds off of my 20 minute drive.
  - sparker72678 3y ago
    I always wondered who y’all were and why you did this.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - Exoristos 3y ago
    HN in a nutshell.
  - rcdemski 3y ago
    Same, well, I’ll do the speed limit. But the end result is the same. I get to where I’m going without stressing over navigating around aggressive drivers. They tend to avoid the right lane anyway. If my travels are so time sensitive that a couple minutes will make or break it the. I’m planning things wrong well before I leave the house.
  - henriquez 3y ago
    I live in a rural area with a lot of straight/open roads with visibility and little traffic. Driving 98 mph (since 100 is a felony here lol) shaves nontrivial time off my trips vs. the speed limits which are far too low anyway. If it’s okay for you to drive 10mph over the speed limit then it’s also okay for me to drive 28mph over. Laws are just words written by people who are irrelevant to me. Reality is about risk vs. reward.
    - cxr 3y ago
      > If it’s okay for you to drive 10mph over the speed limit That's not what they said.
  - jaydz 3y ago
    I find right lane driving dangerous. Every week I see drivers slow down or come to a complete stop on the acceleration lane, others are risking it all to make their exit.
  - singron 3y ago
    If you drive 60mph for 20 minutes, you will go 20 miles. If you drove 65mph, then you would travel the same distance 1 minute 32 seconds sooner. At lower speeds, the effect is bigger, e.g. going 45 instead of 40 saves 2:13, and 35 instead of 30 saves 2:51. If my math is right, to only lose 30 seconds by going 5 under for 20 minutes, you would have to be going 195 in a 200.
    - bcrosby95 3y ago
      In theory, yes. In reality, you're ignoring the traffic lights at both ends of your trip.
- acdha 3y ago
  I grew up around the LA area and found that was common under a short interval but not for a long one. I had a diesel & sometimes tried to see how high I could keep the mileage on a tank (record was 52mpg), and one thing I noticed was that the guys blowing by at 90 were just burning cash: they’d fly by but then stomp on the brakes due to traffic over and over again, while I was having a much less stressful time going the average speed and rarely even touching the brakes.
woodruffw 3y ago
Posted limit detection seems reliable in existing cars, both self-driving and not; is there some reason to believe this will be any less reliable than other safety technologies?
- helen___keller 3y ago
  I live in Boston and my car’s HUD displays this information (speed limit and such). Sometimes it gets it wrong despite living in a major city center. Once my car even alerted me when I was going the wrong way on a one-way — except that I wasn’t. I can only imagine in deep suburbs / rural it is even less reliable.
  - MarkSweep 3y ago
    Boston can really confuse a GPS. While driving in the underground freeway, the GPS was giving me turn-by-turn instructions for the city streets above.
  - wtallis 3y ago
    It sounds like you're describing a system based on GPS and map data, not one of the systems that read the actual signs posted as you drive by them. The only problems I've had with the speed limit sign reader in my car are conditional speed limits (e.g. school zones during certain hours, truck-specific limits). Otherwise, they're just limited by the prevalence of the physical signs.
    - bloaf 3y ago
      Even reading the signs is non-trivial, I drive several stretches of road where an access road runs parallel to a highway, and the 20mph lower speed limit signs for the access road are clearly visible from the highway and only slightly farther off the shoulder than the correct signs.
  - jonhohle 3y ago
    This seems like a useful service for cities to provide: street maps and traffic rules for each segment in a standard format.

lazide 3y ago

I don’t think I’ve seen anyone in California willingly driving anything less than 15 over the speed limit - including the cops and CHP.

bcrosby95 3y ago
I like to drive 5 under the speed limit, in the right lane of course. I don't have to worry about swerving through traffic, slamming on my brakes, and generally jockying for position just to shave 30 seconds off of my 20 minute drive.
- sparker72678 3y ago
  I always wondered who y’all were and why you did this.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- Exoristos 3y ago
  HN in a nutshell.
- rcdemski 3y ago
  Same, well, I’ll do the speed limit. But the end result is the same. I get to where I’m going without stressing over navigating around aggressive drivers. They tend to avoid the right lane anyway. If my travels are so time sensitive that a couple minutes will make or break it the. I’m planning things wrong well before I leave the house.
- henriquez 3y ago
  I live in a rural area with a lot of straight/open roads with visibility and little traffic. Driving 98 mph (since 100 is a felony here lol) shaves nontrivial time off my trips vs. the speed limits which are far too low anyway. If it’s okay for you to drive 10mph over the speed limit then it’s also okay for me to drive 28mph over. Laws are just words written by people who are irrelevant to me. Reality is about risk vs. reward.
  - cxr 3y ago
    > If it’s okay for you to drive 10mph over the speed limit That's not what they said.
- jaydz 3y ago
  I find right lane driving dangerous. Every week I see drivers slow down or come to a complete stop on the acceleration lane, others are risking it all to make their exit.
- singron 3y ago
  If you drive 60mph for 20 minutes, you will go 20 miles. If you drove 65mph, then you would travel the same distance 1 minute 32 seconds sooner. At lower speeds, the effect is bigger, e.g. going 45 instead of 40 saves 2:13, and 35 instead of 30 saves 2:51. If my math is right, to only lose 30 seconds by going 5 under for 20 minutes, you would have to be going 195 in a 200.
  - bcrosby95 3y ago
    In theory, yes. In reality, you're ignoring the traffic lights at both ends of your trip.
acdha 3y ago
I grew up around the LA area and found that was common under a short interval but not for a long one. I had a diesel & sometimes tried to see how high I could keep the mileage on a tank (record was 52mpg), and one thing I noticed was that the guys blowing by at 90 were just burning cash: they’d fly by but then stomp on the brakes due to traffic over and over again, while I was having a much less stressful time going the average speed and rarely even touching the brakes.

woodruffw 3y ago

Posted limit detection seems reliable in existing cars, both self-driving and not; is there some reason to believe this will be any less reliable than other safety technologies?

helen___keller 3y ago
I live in Boston and my car’s HUD displays this information (speed limit and such). Sometimes it gets it wrong despite living in a major city center. Once my car even alerted me when I was going the wrong way on a one-way — except that I wasn’t. I can only imagine in deep suburbs / rural it is even less reliable.
- MarkSweep 3y ago
  Boston can really confuse a GPS. While driving in the underground freeway, the GPS was giving me turn-by-turn instructions for the city streets above.
- wtallis 3y ago
  It sounds like you're describing a system based on GPS and map data, not one of the systems that read the actual signs posted as you drive by them. The only problems I've had with the speed limit sign reader in my car are conditional speed limits (e.g. school zones during certain hours, truck-specific limits). Otherwise, they're just limited by the prevalence of the physical signs.
  - bloaf 3y ago
    Even reading the signs is non-trivial, I drive several stretches of road where an access road runs parallel to a highway, and the 20mph lower speed limit signs for the access road are clearly visible from the highway and only slightly farther off the shoulder than the correct signs.
- jonhohle 3y ago
  This seems like a useful service for cities to provide: street maps and traffic rules for each segment in a standard format.