DIYbanter - View Single Post - OT Idiot lights-out drivers

Don Y[_3_]

On 2/13/2016 1:25 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 13 Feb 2016 09:07:11 -0700, Don Y
wrote:

On 2/13/2016 6:38 AM, Gene Yuss wrote:
On 02/13/2016 12:23 AM, Don Y wrote:
People zone out when driving. They get "acclimated" to a particular
set of stimuli -- then tend to ignore it.

If you want to be noticed, you have to stand out by "being different".
E.g., a headlight that flashes, etc.

This is the rationale for every tweek to the safety equipment (e.g., now
center mounted brake lights *flash* when first applied; it's not enough
that they are UP HIGH, in your LINE OF SIGHT -- cuz you've gotten used
to seeing them there and now "tune them out".

Brake lights should broadcast a wifi signal that flashes the
smartphone screens of the texting driver(s) behind you when
you apply the brakes. Or is there already an app for that?

Ha! Or, "we interrupt this call to tell you that you're about
to *ss-end the vehicle in front of you. Please hang up so we can
autodial your insurance carrier..."

[Actually, I suspect there will be pressure for phones to
report the "their" speed of travel whenever they "notice"
a sudden, instantaneous change (decrease) in speed! Perhaps
not legislated but, rather, insurance company incentives.
Given how integrated telecoms are becoming with new cars,
it wouldn't be hard for the car to "tattle" on the driver.
IIRC, our owner's manual essentially says this -- though
in an obtuse way.]
many vehicles currently record the last "X" seconds of information -
speed, steering input, brake input etc in a loop that is stopped when
the airbags go off, so the speed at impact and weather the brakes were
applied or not is frozen fr all time.

Yes, it's called a "black box" (named for the "black boxes" on aircraft).

But, as many vehicles can (and do!) connect to remote servers, you
don't really know *what* information the car is leaking about your
driving activities.

E.g., our GPS has support for real-time "traffic" updates.
If tasked with designing such a capability, I'd immediately posit:
"Well, we have lots of OUR VEHICLES on the streets.

They each know where *they* are located.

They also know how fast they are traveling.

If we ASSUME that the drivers are trying to drive as fast as
conditions permit, then the current speed of a particular vehicle
on a particular stretch of roadway can be a reasonable indication
of the traffic conditions on that roadway -- at this instant!

So, have all the vehicles report their location to our server.

Then, sort through any conflicting reports and update the real-time
*traffic map* to reflect these conditions.

And, on the next update cycle, tell the vehicles what the traffic
in their vicinity is like.

I.e., let the drivers be our data collection system!"

A side effect of this is that *your* vehicle's position is continually
reported "for the benefit of others" -- not just when *you* attempt
to contact the "concierge service", "emergency 911", etc.