hxxp://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/28/teens.crash.ap/index.html

This sucks. My high school had a bunch of people die in a crash back in the late eighties as well.:(

Saw the story this morning. We had a similar incident back in 1988 when I was a junior. Right after graduation, 2 seniors and a girl from my class were killed in a wreck where the car went airborne and got lodged in a tree. It was a horrible, horrible accident.

Why are people still allowed to drive cars on roads? We have the technology to fully automate our road system. Doing so would eliminate all of these tragedies, and make commuting a vastly more efficient process.

Why are people still allowed to drive cars on roads? We have the technology to fully automate our road system. Doing so would eliminate all of these tragedies, and make commuting a vastly more efficient process.

Really? That would be cool. I hate trying to find places when driving. If we could just make some sort of system that automatically takes us somewhere, awesome!

Why are people still allowed to drive cars on roads? We have the technology to fully automate our road system. Doing so would eliminate all of these tragedies, and make commuting a vastly more efficient process.


Ummm. Proof?

Ummm. Proof?

I don't have an actual article, but I remember seeing a news story a few years back where they had built the technology into a road in California that would drive cars all on its own that were equipped with sensors to interact with the road technology. It was being used as a testing ground. They said it could be done, but the question was whether people wanted that kind of technology.

I would never want that.

I would never want that.

Really, you wouldn't want automobile fatalities vastly reduced, if not eliminated?

I would love to be able to nap while driving.

hxxp://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/28/teens.crash.ap/index.html

This sucks. My high school had a bunch of people die in a crash back in the late eighties as well.:(

Small world. Just got an IM from my buddy in Rochester(Fairport):

A very sad day here in Fairport. Sara Monnat was Mackenzie's babysitter and cheerleading coach. She was also the daughter of Erin's boss.

Why are people still allowed to drive cars on roads? We have the technology to fully automate our road system. Doing so would eliminate all of these tragedies, and make commuting a vastly more efficient process.

They've already rolled out this technology. It's called "public transportation".

:P

Really, you wouldn't want automobile fatalities vastly reduced, if not eliminated?

Not if it means giving up control and one of my freedoms. Perhaps we should just create a Matrix-like society where we all live in little pods? It wouldn't get much safer than that.

Small world. Just got an IM from my buddy in Rochester(Fairport):

A very sad day here in Fairport. Sara Monnat was Mackenzie's babysitter and cheerleading coach. She was also the daughter of Erin's boss.

Yep. Fairport has had more than its fair share of this kind of thing. Back in the eighties, a bunch of people died on their way to a lacrosse game. Very sad.

Not if it means giving up control and one of my freedoms. Perhaps we should just create a Matrix-like society where we all live in little pods? It wouldn't get much safer than that.

Holy overreaction, Batman!

Going on long drives is one of the most relaxing things I do. I love getting in my car and just driving aimlessly around for hours.

Then again, I would also love it if I could just walk outside my house and have an "auto-car" take me to the bank and the stores I need to go to on the days I don't feel like dealing with traffic.

Going on long drives is one of the most relaxing things I do. I love getting in my car and just driving aimlessly around for hours.

Then again, I would also love it if I could just walk outside my house and have an "auto-car" take me to the bank and the stores I need to go to on the days I don't feel like dealing with traffic.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Driving around is sometimes good. I'd just like an auto-car for the majority of driving... but still be able to drive if I wanted.

Demolition Man had it all figured out.

What about all those times where you don't know what you wanna eat, and you are like... Shittt, fuck? where do you want to eat? LEFT! nooooo, fucking right! That would confuse the shit out of the car and damn road.

Just realized I lost track of what this thread was really about.. That is a horrible tragedy, and I'm sorry for the loss.

I apologize for the threadjack. I think about this every time I hear about an auto tragedy, which is actually nearly every day.

I just realized Kodos probably knows my first college girlfriend. Small world.

I just realized Kodos probably knows my first college girlfriend. Small world.

Name? I was class of 1989 (although I moved to Ohio during my junior year after attending Fairport schools from Kindergarten.). :)

Name? I was class of 1989 (although I moved to Ohio during my junior year after attending Fairport schools from Kindergarten.). :)


Deena Houston.

1989? Probably a little young, then. She was class of 1983. I'm not giving names, though, just in case. She's not someone I'd want to hear from again.

I had some good times at UR. I probably should have taken better advantage of that science department.

Yep. I probably didn't know her. Plus, it was a big school, so I might well have not known her even if I was in the same class.

In general, people from Fairport are swell people. Perhaps you got ahold of a bad one. ;)

I couldn't imagine being one of those 4 girls in the car behind them, watching your best friends die. That is just awful :(

Saw the pictures on TV in a truck stop earlier. Never heard about the truck driver, which I just read was OK. Atleast he came out of it, his truck certainly didn't after going off the road some and it looked like it caught fire.

I feel for that truck driver as much as the families. I know if it was me it would tear me up, even if I was not in any way at fault. There is just so little you can do in a situation like that as far as trying to lessen or avoid a collision.

Why are people still allowed to drive cars on roads? We have the technology to fully automate our road system. Doing so would eliminate all of these tragedies, and make commuting a vastly more efficient process.

If they made cars go no faster than 30 mph at anytime, most road fatalities would be eliminated also. Hell, if you made it 15 mph, no one wouldn't even get seriously injured.

On a more serious note, I never have understood why road cars have ever been allowed to go faster than 60-70 mph.

If they made cars go no faster than 30 mph at anytime, most road fatalities would be eliminated also. Hell, if you made it 15 mph, no one wouldn't even get seriously injured.

On a more serious note, I never have understood why road cars have ever been allowed to go faster than 60-70 mph.

Probably has something to do with some freedom argument and the fact that by the time everyone realized the severity of the problem it was too late and to put the genie back in the bottle would have created a giant mess -- how much money and governmental effort would it have taken to enforce traffic speed laws everywhere, and the internal automobile design changes that would have to take place later? Lack of effort + resistance = something that ain't moving.

I mean I understand why, but it is an example of rejecting the easiest solution.

I don't have an actual article, but I remember seeing a news story a few years back where they had built the technology into a road in California that would drive cars all on its own that were equipped with sensors to interact with the road technology. It was being used as a testing ground. They said it could be done, but the question was whether people wanted that kind of technology.

I made a presentation at the major international transportation conference on this subject while I was in school ... Automated Highway Systems. My advisor actually rode in the demonstration you are likely referring to. I believe it was in the express lanes of I-15 in San Diego. Who knows if/when we'll see a large-scale deployment like that, but some pieces of the research done for AHS are already on the road. The "intelligent cruise control" found on some luxury cars, which keeps your car a safe distance behind the one in front of you, is a good example.