Author Topic: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets  (Read 8905 times)

rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16268
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile
Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« on: March 30, 2015, 07:59:10 PM »
I supported a few district courts in my time. Come on, Travoli, do your patriotic duty.  

http://time.com/money/3762033/traffic-ticket-decrease-speed-limits-police/

Travoli

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1199
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2015, 08:19:24 PM »
I've contributed a lifetime's worth.
Imagine how upside down the departments will be once cars drive themselves.

rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16268
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2015, 08:40:22 PM »
The article mention raised speed limits. I know that's part of it, maybe most of it.  But my GPS can nag me if I go over a certain amount (mine is set at 6mph).

>once cars drive themselves

The insurance companies are also worrying about this.  What happens if self-driving cars drastically reduce accidents? Actuarially speaking, the rates should drop.

Mackin USA

  • Inner Core
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2905
  • Abstract Artist
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2015, 11:07:25 AM »
Actuarially speaking, the rates should drop.

Don't hold your breath RC
   
Mr. Mackin

rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16268
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2015, 02:32:02 PM »
A self-driving car equipped by GM spinoff Delphi Automotive completed today a historic, 3,500-mile journey across the U.S. from San Franscisco to New York.

http://www.kurzweilai.net/delphi-completes-first-coast-to-coast-automated-drive

ergophobe

  • Inner Core
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9255
    • View Profile

littleman

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6531
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #6 on: April 03, 2015, 03:46:30 PM »
That was pretty funny.  It made me think though, we will probably have cars driving around in circles while waiting for parking spaces -- congesting the roads.  I guess there will have to be some type of regulation against empty cars circling the blocks.

>6mph
That's about what I do too, it seems to be close enough to the speed limit that you'll get ignored most of the time.

rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16268
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2015, 04:35:45 PM »
>will have to be some type of regulation against empty cars circling the blocks

I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, I can see where that it going to be a problem.  Some stores may have valet-type customer drop-off areas ...except NO valets. Why not slap the car on the a## and send it off to wait in the suburbs to wait for you?  Whistle into your smartphone --which your faithful steed is constantly watching-- when you want it to come get you. You won't have to tell it where you want to meet because it (and numerous governmental and advertising agencies) already knows your every move.

ergophobe

  • Inner Core
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9255
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #8 on: April 04, 2015, 05:16:42 AM »
It depends... if there's some universal API for cars to communicate with each other, you'll be able to park cars seven deep with no valet and you'll just push your code on your cell phone and your car will ask the other cars to let it out and they'll all reshuffle.

And many people argue that the personal car will simply become less important and things like Zipcar will be way more convenient, because the car will deliver itself. So if you're an urban dweller who doesn't need a car daily, you'll have much less need to own one (thus more parking spaces available).

And capacity of roads goes way up. Right now ever car has to follow at a distance where if the car in front of you slams on the brakes, you have time to react. When slef-driving cars can communicate and "train up" into a 10-car draft, the brake signal from the lead car gets transmitted immediately to all cars at once, so you don't need nearly as much space.

And then there's the possibility of a parking API in a city where when a car gives up a spot, the nearest car gets pinged and that spot is reserved for it and it goes straight there without circling.

Many possibilities. Self-driving cars, once they become ubiquitous, will change our culture in ways that we can't imagine.

Brad

  • Inner Core
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 4137
  • What, me worry?
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #9 on: April 04, 2015, 11:45:11 AM »
Program the cars to parallel park themselves that will help. Lots of meat (human) drivers can't seem to master this.

Biggest obstacle is going to be changing liability laws and insurance companies.

Also, to heck with cars, what about trucks?

rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16268
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2015, 11:56:08 AM »
>what about trucks

Mercedes has one in the works.  THIS is where we're going to see the rubber hit the road first, IMO.  The scenario, at first, will be for large robotic convoys to travel between hubs located along our interstates. Travel will be in off-peak hours and accompanied by a human engineer and conductor in case of an emergency.

Gurtie

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1628
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #11 on: April 04, 2015, 04:07:07 PM »
>> once they become ubiquitous

the average age of a car in the Uk is 7.5 years, and based on last years record of 2.5 million new cars registered it will still take more than 12 years to replace all the cars on the UK roads, even assuming everyone can afford to trade up enough to get a self driving one in that period.

And that 12 years worth of sftware can speak to each other - there will surely be an IE6 of car software, st some point?

so in the UK, unless there are massive subsidies or huge retrofitting subsidies, I think we may be some way off even after the arguments, insurance calculations and questions about what constitutes being drunk n charge of a vehicle get resolved.

I'd dearly love everyone to have auutomatic parking though. Perhaps that way people could stay between the lines  ::)


Brad

  • Inner Core
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 4137
  • What, me worry?
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #12 on: April 04, 2015, 04:25:51 PM »
>IE6

Worse, if I see a talking paper clip I'm bailing out of the car right away!

rcjordan

  • I'm consulting the authorities on the subject
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 16268
  • Debbie says...
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #13 on: April 04, 2015, 05:18:45 PM »
There is at least one company in the US that's somewhat along the way with developing a retrofit kit.  They said that it is cheaper than first imagined, $5k, I think.  But it'll take a decade or more for this to get to the masses.  That's why I think you'll see hub-to-hub trucking first. Do-able now, big payback.

ergophobe

  • Inner Core
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9255
    • View Profile
Re: Police All Over the U.S. Are Issuing Fewer Traffic Tickets
« Reply #14 on: April 04, 2015, 07:34:39 PM »
the average age of a car in the Uk is 7.5 years, and based on last years record of 2.5 million new cars registered it will still take more than 12 years to replace all the cars on the UK roads, even assuming everyone can afford to trade up enough to get a self driving one in that period.

Absolutely. I think I cited similar stats for the US when someone posted a link to an article by some pollyanna futurist. If starting tomorrow the only car you could get was a self-driving electric car, it might take 20 years until they were ubiquitous until we got to a point where you could prohibit human drivers from main roads.

But my training is as a historian of the sixteenth century, so I see that as a fast cultural change. Much faster (though much less important) than the transition to the wheeled plow ;-)

Still, there are technological changes that affect society in ways that we do not expect in advance. Two of my favorite examples are reliable matches and refrigerators. When matches became widely available, this had a profound impact on village life for women in Europe. Before matches, "going to fetch fire" was a common reason for women to socialize with their neighbors. Women became substantially more isolated once matches became available. At the same time, destructive fires become less common as women were not running back and forth among thatch-roof houses with hot coals.

Refrigerators had a similar effect (Lawrence Wylie, Village in Vaucluse documents this for the south of France). Basically, prior to the fridge, perishables had to be acquired daily, sometimes twice daily, which meant people were out and about walking around and seeing each other. Older French friends confirm that when they were kids they went to the market or farmer 2x per day.

We expect that cars and televisions had huge disruptive effects on social life, but it's not obvious when looking at the history of technology to think of the disruptive effects of matches or even the effects on daily social life resulting from home refrigerators.

I expect that self-driving cars, which will have a profound social impact, but it's not clear what all the impacts will be and at what level of penetration.