Bad Day Or Dreaded 20 MPH

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Michael G,

The one car was, unintentionally, on the roof of the one behind, I take that to mean literally!

With regard to speed limiters, my car has one. Used once. Can be dangerous in preventing a burst of acceleration to avoid being rammed from behind!

My old sat nav warns if I exceed the local speed limit, and can be set to warn if I exceed my selected preset “maximum” soeed.

Humans are fallible, so far, it seems that so are the AI programs for “driverless” cars.

Is that because the origional program was written by a human?

Howard

[Howard Lewis]

On Howard Lewis Said:

Michael G,

The one car was, unintentionally, on the roof of the one behind, I take that to mean literally!

[…]

My apologies for the the misunderstanding, Howard … I read your post as stating this to be a daily event rather than an occasional one.

The fallacy of that is illustrated daily.  Six cars in lane 3 of M6 occupying less than five car lengths, with No.3, literally on the roof on No.2!

 

MichaelG.

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Blindingly obvious to me that all this congestion is caused by the massive increase in population and therefore people on the road.

Tony

[Tony Pratt 1]

On Tony Pratt 1 Said:

Blindingly obvious to me that all this congestion is caused by the massive increase in population and therefore people on the road.

Tony

Important in engineering to identify cause and effect, because no good comes of fixing what ain’t broke. Beware believing in the ‘blindingly obvious’ without checking.

This graph suggests another reason for congestion, which is wealth rising over time allows more people to own cars:

In 1951 over 80% of UK households didn’t own a car.   Today only 25% of households are car-less, and many have 2 or 3 cars.

Rising population must be a factor, but it’s not in the same league as the increase in the percentage of the population who can afford to buy and run cars.   In 1951 the majority caught buses and trains, or rode bikes or walked.   Today, the majority own cars.

Another problem is cars growing in size.   My modest runabout is huge compared with an Austin 7, and many of my neighbours own hefty 4x4s that dwarf my Noddy car.   4x4s seem a poor choice to me because owners who only have on-street parking are often seen looking desperately for somewhere to park.  Leads to rows too – it’s amazing how many folk believe they own the road outside their house.   They almost never do…

Dave

 

 

 

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