If cars could brake instantly

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Hypothetically speaking, if your car could slow to a stop in no time....

Accidents where people get rear ended would almost be gone because you would not need to worry about braking distance.

Would that get rid of a good chunk of the accidents that happen daily?

Of course some accidents would still occur like people falling asleep at the wheel, drunk drivers, idiotic people who hit parked cars, etc etc...

The human body couldn't handle the g forces it would have to endure for that to be possible.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I cannot wait until we all abdicate our ability to drive and give it to computers. People are grossly incompetent behind the wheel and we need to defer to computers, which will make all traffic move much quicker, much more efficiently (saving on fuel), much safer, and is just better in all ways.

Perhaps when we make a computer more intelligent than a human, I will agree with this.

I do agree that we need better computerized traffic management.

I could write the code in an afternoon to drive a car better than a typical person

This is the future. I am 100% convinced that once a city of any significant computerizes a good section of their transportation, even if they just do it with trucks first in a commercial lane or something, everyone in the world will realize how truly kick ass it is. We could have cars all going at a constant speed on the highway, for instance, all immediately behind each other saving fuel by drafting, saving time by not doing the start/stop. We could do away with traffic lights and have cars just shoot through well timed. Accidents would be gone, we could do work while driving, it WILL happen and it will be awesome. It's been done as a POC on limited scales but is costly to set the infrastructure up. It's far more realistic than flying cars or anything, though, and it is a viable way of reducing congestion in areas that are otherwise looking at massive public works projects.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Hypothetically speaking, if your car could slow to a stop in no time....

Accidents where people get rear ended would almost be gone because you would not need to worry about braking distance.

Would that get rid of a good chunk of the accidents that happen daily?

Of course some accidents would still occur like people falling asleep at the wheel, drunk drivers, idiotic people who hit parked cars, etc etc...

The human body couldn't handle the g forces it would have to endure for that to be possible.

Mine could. I can also bench a ton, so I'd just push against the steering wheel. I think I can handle about 90 G.

 

[2Xtreme21]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Hypothetically speaking, if your car could slow to a stop in no time....

Accidents where people get rear ended would almost be gone because you would not need to worry about braking distance.

Would that get rid of a good chunk of the accidents that happen daily?

Of course some accidents would still occur like people falling asleep at the wheel, drunk drivers, idiotic people who hit parked cars, etc etc...

The human body couldn't handle the g forces it would have to endure for that to be possible.

Mine could. I can also bench a ton, so I'd just push against the steering wheel. I think I can handle about 90 G.

I kinda hope that's sarcasm. I doubt your joints can handle that much, so while you may be able to push really hard against the steering wheel, your arm might end up snapping off your shoulder.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Hypothetically speaking, if your car could slow to a stop in no time....

Accidents where people get rear ended would almost be gone because you would not need to worry about braking distance.

Would that get rid of a good chunk of the accidents that happen daily?

Of course some accidents would still occur like people falling asleep at the wheel, drunk drivers, idiotic people who hit parked cars, etc etc...

The human body couldn't handle the g forces it would have to endure for that to be possible.

Mine could. I can also bench a ton, so I'd just push against the steering wheel. I think I can handle about 90 G.

I kinda hope that's sarcasm. I doubt your joints can handle that much, so while you may be able to push really hard against the steering wheel, your arm might end up snapping off your shoulder.

I doubt the steering wheel could handle that much either. :laugh:

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Hypothetically speaking, if your car could slow to a stop in no time....

Accidents where people get rear ended would almost be gone because you would not need to worry about braking distance.

Would that get rid of a good chunk of the accidents that happen daily?

Of course some accidents would still occur like people falling asleep at the wheel, drunk drivers, idiotic people who hit parked cars, etc etc...

The human body couldn't handle the g forces it would have to endure for that to be possible.

Mine could. I can also bench a ton, so I'd just push against the steering wheel. I think I can handle about 90 G.

I kinda hope that's sarcasm. I doubt your joints can handle that much, so while you may be able to push really hard against the steering wheel, your arm might end up snapping off your shoulder.

I doubt the steering wheel could handle that much either. :laugh:

It's a Maxima. RESPECT!!!

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
This is the future. I am 100% convinced that once a city of any significant computerizes a good section of their transportation, even if they just do it with trucks first in a commercial lane or something, everyone in the world will realize how truly kick ass it is. We could have cars all going at a constant speed on the highway, for instance, all immediately behind each other saving fuel by drafting, saving time by not doing the start/stop. We could do away with traffic lights and have cars just shoot through well timed. Accidents would be gone, we could do work while driving, it WILL happen and it will be awesome. It's been done as a POC on limited scales but is costly to set the infrastructure up. It's far more realistic than flying cars or anything, though, and it is a viable way of reducing congestion in areas that are otherwise looking at massive public works projects.

As long as you can manually override it while in the country.

I agree that it would be great for the city. Congestion would be a thing of the past.

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
I kinda hope that's sarcasm. I doubt your joints can handle that much, so while you may be able to push really hard against the steering wheel, your arm might end up snapping off your shoulder.

Umm...of course that's sarcasm. Learn to pick up on it.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I cannot wait until we all abdicate our ability to drive and give it to computers. People are grossly incompetent behind the wheel and we need to defer to computers, which will make all traffic move much quicker, much more efficiently (saving on fuel), much safer, and is just better in all ways.

Perhaps when we make a computer more intelligent than a human, I will agree with this.

I do agree that we need better computerized traffic management.

I could write the code in an afternoon to drive a car better than a typical person

This is the future. I am 100% convinced that once a city of any significant computerizes a good section of their transportation, even if they just do it with trucks first in a commercial lane or something, everyone in the world will realize how truly kick ass it is. We could have cars all going at a constant speed on the highway, for instance, all immediately behind each other saving fuel by drafting, saving time by not doing the start/stop. We could do away with traffic lights and have cars just shoot through well timed. Accidents would be gone, we could do work while driving, it WILL happen and it will be awesome. It's been done as a POC on limited scales but is costly to set the infrastructure up. It's far more realistic than flying cars or anything, though, and it is a viable way of reducing congestion in areas that are otherwise looking at massive public works projects.

This would take all the fun out of drunk driving. Out here in New Mexico, land of the roadside memorial, people would be left with nothing to do.

 

[Jeff7]

Ok, so we need an intertial dampening system. Geordi, Data, get right on that. I need it done by yesterday.


If there were a way of stopping instantly, then speed limits would probably go up, until the point where we'd reach a level of fatalities about equal to where they are now.

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I cannot wait until we all abdicate our ability to drive and give it to computers. People are grossly incompetent behind the wheel and we need to defer to computers, which will make all traffic move much quicker, much more efficiently (saving on fuel), much safer, and is just better in all ways.

Perhaps when we make a computer more intelligent than a human, I will agree with this.

I do agree that we need better computerized traffic management.

It need not be more intelligent than a human. It just needs to be good at getting humans from one place to another. It doesn't need to know when it's appropriate to flip off another computer, or know how to try and shave while driving, or know how to talk on a cellphone while eating a cheeseburger.
Don't computers already route packages for UPS and FedEx? In cases where a package does wind up where it's not supposed to be, I'd wager that it's because of human error, while the computer laughs at its incompetent minions.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: DLeRium
Hypothetically speaking, if your car could slow to a stop in no time....

Accidents where people get rear ended would almost be gone because you would not need to worry about braking distance.

Would that get rid of a good chunk of the accidents that happen daily?

Of course some accidents would still occur like people falling asleep at the wheel, drunk drivers, idiotic people who hit parked cars, etc etc...

The human body couldn't handle the g forces it would have to endure for that to be possible.

Mine could. I can also bench a ton, so I'd just push against the steering wheel. I think I can handle about 90 G.

I kinda hope that's sarcasm. I doubt your joints can handle that much, so while you may be able to push really hard against the steering wheel, your arm might end up snapping off your shoulder.

I doubt the steering wheel could handle that much either. :laugh:

It's a Maxima. RESPECT!!!

:laugh::thumbsup:

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I cannot wait until we all abdicate our ability to drive and give it to computers. People are grossly incompetent behind the wheel and we need to defer to computers, which will make all traffic move much quicker, much more efficiently (saving on fuel), much safer, and is just better in all ways.

Perhaps when we make a computer more intelligent than a human, I will agree with this.

I do agree that we need better computerized traffic management.

Let's be honest here. A pocket calculator is more intelligent than half the people on the roads at any given time.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I cannot wait until we all abdicate our ability to drive and give it to computers. People are grossly incompetent behind the wheel and we need to defer to computers, which will make all traffic move much quicker, much more efficiently (saving on fuel), much safer, and is just better in all ways.

Perhaps when we make a computer more intelligent than a human, I will agree with this.

I do agree that we need better computerized traffic management.

Intelligence has no part in this. Computers operate under rules and boundaries, which traffic should abide by as well. Setting up cars and the systems needed to run them autonomously would almost certainly be an improvement in all aspects of driving. It really is a very simple set of rules to follow: if any sensor reads immediate danger, stop/slow down/avoid it with whatever countermeasure is available, drive the speed limit, stop at stop signs/lights, require human intervention when necessary, etc. I'd love to be involved in a project like this.

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I cannot wait until we all abdicate our ability to drive and give it to computers. People are grossly incompetent behind the wheel and we need to defer to computers, which will make all traffic move much quicker, much more efficiently (saving on fuel), much safer, and is just better in all ways.

So agreed. I would trust a computer's driving ability far more than that of other people, or my own for that matter. Driving is a mechanical task that is so much better handled by machines. Add in some global coordination everything would be so smooth. Of course computers do glitch, but people glitch even more often.

 

[Chronoshock]

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I cannot wait until we all abdicate our ability to drive and give it to computers. People are grossly incompetent behind the wheel and we need to defer to computers, which will make all traffic move much quicker, much more efficiently (saving on fuel), much safer, and is just better in all ways.

Perhaps when we make a computer more intelligent than a human, I will agree with this.

I do agree that we need better computerized traffic management.

Intelligence has no part in this. Computers operate under rules and boundaries, which traffic should abide by as well. Setting up cars and the systems needed to run them autonomously would almost certainly be an improvement in all aspects of driving. It really is a very simple set of rules to follow: if any sensor reads immediate danger, stop/slow down/avoid it with whatever countermeasure is available, drive the speed limit, stop at stop signs/lights, require human intervention when necessary, etc. I'd love to be involved in a project like this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D...e#2007_Urban_Challenge

There were a few teams this year which completed the entire course while obeying traffic laws. Look around online for videos of the challenge, its interesting stuff. The actual code and math behind it is very complicated. I worked on a slimmed down version of the challenge (a small go kart sized vehicle operating indoors) and it was extremely challenging. The reason why its not as simple as rule based decision making is because sensor data must be interpreted. You need a combination of laser, infrared, camera, GPS, accelerometers, etc. to estimate your position and surroundings. All of these are estimations, which are not necessarily deterministic and prone to noise and instrument failure.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: jjsole

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I cannot wait until we all abdicate our ability to drive and give it to computers. People are grossly incompetent behind the wheel and we need to defer to computers, which will make all traffic move much quicker, much more efficiently (saving on fuel), much safer, and is just better in all ways.

Perhaps when we make a computer more intelligent than a human, I will agree with this.

I do agree that we need better computerized traffic management.

I could write the code in an afternoon to drive a car better than a typical person

This is the future. I am 100% convinced that once a city of any significant computerizes a good section of their transportation, even if they just do it with trucks first in a commercial lane or something, everyone in the world will realize how truly kick ass it is. We could have cars all going at a constant speed on the highway, for instance, all immediately behind each other saving fuel by drafting, saving time by not doing the start/stop. We could do away with traffic lights and have cars just shoot through well timed. Accidents would be gone, we could do work while driving, it WILL happen and it will be awesome. It's been done as a POC on limited scales but is costly to set the infrastructure up. It's far more realistic than flying cars or anything, though, and it is a viable way of reducing congestion in areas that are otherwise looking at massive public works projects.

This would take all the fun out of drunk driving. Out here in New Mexico, land of the roadside memorial, people would be left with nothing to do.

oh i disagree. IN New MExico it would allow me to do something else..anything. fucking driving around new mexico sucks.

but it would be nice most of the time. Also it needs to have a override.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: ScottSwingleComputers
If you go from 65+ to 0 in a second, I dont care what kind of brakes the guy behind you has...

Exactly. The amount of time allowed for a reaction would be diminished, so much so that I think instead of hitting the rear-end of someone going 15 mph, at 35mph we'd see people careening into someone going 0mph at 65+mph.

 

[teclis1023]

I think the majority of accidents are probably caused by poor driving and general inattentiveness. I always learned that for every 10mph, you put a car's length between you and the person in front of you. I practice that, and have never hit another car. So at 60mph, I keep about 60 feet between me and the dude in front of me.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: Chronoshock

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I cannot wait until we all abdicate our ability to drive and give it to computers. People are grossly incompetent behind the wheel and we need to defer to computers, which will make all traffic move much quicker, much more efficiently (saving on fuel), much safer, and is just better in all ways.

Perhaps when we make a computer more intelligent than a human, I will agree with this.

I do agree that we need better computerized traffic management.

Intelligence has no part in this. Computers operate under rules and boundaries, which traffic should abide by as well. Setting up cars and the systems needed to run them autonomously would almost certainly be an improvement in all aspects of driving. It really is a very simple set of rules to follow: if any sensor reads immediate danger, stop/slow down/avoid it with whatever countermeasure is available, drive the speed limit, stop at stop signs/lights, require human intervention when necessary, etc. I'd love to be involved in a project like this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D...e#2007_Urban_Challenge

There were a few teams this year which completed the entire course while obeying traffic laws. Look around online for videos of the challenge, its interesting stuff. The actual code and math behind it is very complicated. I worked on a slimmed down version of the challenge (a small go kart sized vehicle operating indoors) and it was extremely challenging. The reason why its not as simple as rule based decision making is because sensor data must be interpreted. You need a combination of laser, infrared, camera, GPS, accelerometers, etc. to estimate your position and surroundings. All of these are estimations, which are not necessarily deterministic and prone to noise and instrument failure.

I've worked on things like this as well, and determinism isn't really that important as long as you have several redundant systems in place with a guaranteed level of minimum accuracy. Also, if this were implemented on a wide scale, there would be infrastructure to support it on the roadways, which means it wouldn't all need to be self contained and certainly wouldn't require nearly as many complicated or expensive systems.

 

[RESmonkey]

Instantaneous, even if it was supported by cushions, would still kill you. Your organs would collide with your ribcage, and other shit would happen, too.

 

[mugs]

Instant braking would reduce accidents, but they probably wouldn't have a significant impact on rear-end collisions. Those are caused by people not paying attention and/or following too closely. You can't remove the human reaction time from the equation.

 

[DrPizza]

LOL :laugh:


Perfect timing though. We're discussing Newton's 2nd Law in Physics today. I'll bring this question up.

 

[Jahee]

Originally posted by: teclis1023
I think the majority of accidents are probably caused by poor driving and general inattentiveness. I always learned that for every 10mph, you put a car's length between you and the person in front of you. I practice that, and have never hit another car. So at 60mph, I keep about 60 feet between me and the dude in front of me.

Some would argue thats not enough... Personally i use the 2 second rule. If the car infront of me can pass a point, and i can count two seconds before i pass it, i'm fine.