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I am a car nut, love driving, drive a powerful car, and can't wait for more of the autonomous cars to hit the streets. Like the article says, they operate pred

by kw71 11y ago

I am a car nut, love driving, drive a powerful car, and can't wait for more of the autonomous cars to hit the streets. Like the article says, they operate predictably and safely. Sometimes it feels like everyone around me is acting like they are a teenager on their first day of being licensed. I live in the USA, and feel that I am a more skilled driver and more mindful than most people who I share the road with. I do not want to be banned from driving. I operate the vehicle safely, strive to obey traffic regulations, give my full attention to driving, and despite having a powerful car almost always drive in a manner that minimizes fuel consumption. Maybe rather than banning human drivers, the standard for obtaining a driving license should be raised. When I have driven in countries with higher standards, like Germany, it's seemed to me that there's much less chaos on the road and drivers are more responsible. There are definitely less of the metro California style shenanigans the author is talking about.

bla2 11y ago
"Svenson (1981) surveyed 161 students in [...] the United States, asking them to compare their driving skills and safety to other people. For driving skills, 93% of the U.S. sample [...] put themselves in the top 50%; for safety, 88% of the U.S. [...] put themselves in the top 50%." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority#Driving_ability http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority#Driving_ab...
- kw71 11y ago
  I was once a student in the United States, back then I was young, cocky and arrogant. I wrongly thought that I was great at driving so long ago. The citation that follows your quote doesn't offer any implications as to age or experience. But the results of the citation following _that_ are ridiculous. I have heard people say that they are better drunk drivers than most people, too. Survey results like these probably shed some light on why people here are such bad drivers. They simply don't realize that they are bad. I'm a lot older now and have a lot more experience. At least, the insurance companies and police agree with my self-assessment now :)
- jbuzbee 11y ago
  I remember a conversation with a co-worker who was arguing for two classes of driver's licenses. One, for people like him of course, would allow the holder to ignore certain road restrictions, go over the speed limit, etc. The other would be for "normal" people who were less talented behind the wheel. He was serious. What a tool...
  - Animats 11y ago
    "Welcome to your Advanced Driving Test. Please get into the driving simulator. Fasten your safety harness. Beginning Phase 1, Ventura Freeway at rush hour... Phase 2, Lower Manhattan... Phase 3, Appalachian highway during blizzard... Phase 4, Orlando, FL during thunderstorm... Phase 5, rural Texas road at night..." "Test complete. Phase 1: sideswiped car at on-ramp. Phase 2: Hit bike messenger. Phase 3: Ran off cliff. Phase 4: Rear-ended car. Phase 5: Hit deer. Test failed. Please unfasten your harness and exit the simulator".
  - nitrogen 11y ago
    It should be self-evident that some driver training programs (e.g. Finland) are much more rigorous than others (e.g. "ABC Driving" in middle of nowhere USA). Places with unlimited speed roads tend to have much stricter vehicle safety inspections as well. So why not try to bring the more stringent driver training and vehicle inspection requirements to the US, sold initially to those who care about driving? Your coworker would then have to prove he's a better driver. Aside: I think it's offensive to call someone who strives for excellence in some activity a "tool". Would you say the same thing about a med student who thought she should be able to perform additional procedures after going through additional certification?
revelation 11y ago
Well, but are you human? Then you are not qualified to operate a car safely. It's obvious that humans can't drive, and while the majority of car accidents are perfectly avoidable if humans would at least not be reckless, that doesn't mean we can raise the bar to a point where it will be safe.
- kw71 11y ago
  > the majority of car accidents are perfectly avoidable if humans would at least not be reckless I agree with this statement, and wish that people would behave, but I think _accident_ is a bad word, they are crashes. I tried to think about unavoidable crashes, and maybe some weather situations approach this. What does the Google car do when it encounters a sudden lack of visibility on a highway?
  - jessaustin 11y ago
    What we should all do: slow the fuck down! Seriously, there is no visibility level so low that there is no safe possible speed. However, humans are incapable of driving 3mph. I'm sure robocars could do that.
    - mgarfias 11y ago
      Imagine that you're driving in the San Joaquin valley in the winter, it's a clear night, that stars are visible because a recent storm washed all the crap in the air that floated down from the Bay Area. You're doing 70 or so, with scattered traffic, and a car in your lane about 10-15 car lengths ahead. Suddenly his lights disappear, and 1 second later your roll into a fog bank with 15-20 feet of visibility. The driver ahead, followed your advice and slammed on his brakes. But because the fog is so thick, you can't see his brake lights, but that's ok right? You're already applying pressure to the brake pedal when you slam into the back of him. Then you're slammed into by the car behind you. Then a semi rolls in, and kills the lot of you. It happens every freaking year.
      - Thimothy 11y ago
DasIch 11y ago
My driver's license (I'm German) cost me about 2000€ ($2181.75). As a teenager unless you live in a city like Berlin, one of your primary financial concerns is getting enough money together to pay for your driver's license and a car (keep in mind Germany has more regulations there as well). From my impression of US politics and culture I don't see anyone seriously pushing for that. EDIT: Forgot to mention that the process of getting a driver's license also usually takes several weeks at least.
- kw71 11y ago
  I think the regime that you're under would be quite an improvement to here, which is chaos. Crashes were not common, the situation on the road was orderly, almost everyone followed the rules perfectly. Are your insurance costs high?

by kw71 11y ago

bla2 11y ago

"Svenson (1981) surveyed 161 students in [...] the United States, asking them to compare their driving skills and safety to other people. For driving skills, 93% of the U.S. sample [...] put themselves in the top 50%; for safety, 88% of the U.S. [...] put themselves in the top 50%." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority#Driving_ability http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority#Driving_ab...

kw71 11y ago
I was once a student in the United States, back then I was young, cocky and arrogant. I wrongly thought that I was great at driving so long ago. The citation that follows your quote doesn't offer any implications as to age or experience. But the results of the citation following _that_ are ridiculous. I have heard people say that they are better drunk drivers than most people, too. Survey results like these probably shed some light on why people here are such bad drivers. They simply don't realize that they are bad. I'm a lot older now and have a lot more experience. At least, the insurance companies and police agree with my self-assessment now :)
jbuzbee 11y ago
I remember a conversation with a co-worker who was arguing for two classes of driver's licenses. One, for people like him of course, would allow the holder to ignore certain road restrictions, go over the speed limit, etc. The other would be for "normal" people who were less talented behind the wheel. He was serious. What a tool...
- Animats 11y ago
  "Welcome to your Advanced Driving Test. Please get into the driving simulator. Fasten your safety harness. Beginning Phase 1, Ventura Freeway at rush hour... Phase 2, Lower Manhattan... Phase 3, Appalachian highway during blizzard... Phase 4, Orlando, FL during thunderstorm... Phase 5, rural Texas road at night..." "Test complete. Phase 1: sideswiped car at on-ramp. Phase 2: Hit bike messenger. Phase 3: Ran off cliff. Phase 4: Rear-ended car. Phase 5: Hit deer. Test failed. Please unfasten your harness and exit the simulator".
- nitrogen 11y ago
  It should be self-evident that some driver training programs (e.g. Finland) are much more rigorous than others (e.g. "ABC Driving" in middle of nowhere USA). Places with unlimited speed roads tend to have much stricter vehicle safety inspections as well. So why not try to bring the more stringent driver training and vehicle inspection requirements to the US, sold initially to those who care about driving? Your coworker would then have to prove he's a better driver. Aside: I think it's offensive to call someone who strives for excellence in some activity a "tool". Would you say the same thing about a med student who thought she should be able to perform additional procedures after going through additional certification?

revelation 11y ago

Well, but are you human? Then you are not qualified to operate a car safely. It's obvious that humans can't drive, and while the majority of car accidents are perfectly avoidable if humans would at least not be reckless, that doesn't mean we can raise the bar to a point where it will be safe.

kw71 11y ago
> the majority of car accidents are perfectly avoidable if humans would at least not be reckless I agree with this statement, and wish that people would behave, but I think _accident_ is a bad word, they are crashes. I tried to think about unavoidable crashes, and maybe some weather situations approach this. What does the Google car do when it encounters a sudden lack of visibility on a highway?
- jessaustin 11y ago
  What we should all do: slow the fuck down! Seriously, there is no visibility level so low that there is no safe possible speed. However, humans are incapable of driving 3mph. I'm sure robocars could do that.
  - mgarfias 11y ago
    Imagine that you're driving in the San Joaquin valley in the winter, it's a clear night, that stars are visible because a recent storm washed all the crap in the air that floated down from the Bay Area. You're doing 70 or so, with scattered traffic, and a car in your lane about 10-15 car lengths ahead. Suddenly his lights disappear, and 1 second later your roll into a fog bank with 15-20 feet of visibility. The driver ahead, followed your advice and slammed on his brakes. But because the fog is so thick, you can't see his brake lights, but that's ok right? You're already applying pressure to the brake pedal when you slam into the back of him. Then you're slammed into by the car behind you. Then a semi rolls in, and kills the lot of you. It happens every freaking year.
    - Thimothy 11y ago

DasIch 11y ago

My driver's license (I'm German) cost me about 2000€ ($2181.75). As a teenager unless you live in a city like Berlin, one of your primary financial concerns is getting enough money together to pay for your driver's license and a car (keep in mind Germany has more regulations there as well). From my impression of US politics and culture I don't see anyone seriously pushing for that. EDIT: Forgot to mention that the process of getting a driver's license also usually takes several weeks at least.

kw71 11y ago
I think the regime that you're under would be quite an improvement to here, which is chaos. Crashes were not common, the situation on the road was orderly, almost everyone followed the rules perfectly. Are your insurance costs high?