News 130 vehicles crash on bridge

[Andy44]

You can also read the mind of most drivers, if you are a bit skilled in body language.

One of the things I notice is that people talking on mobile phones while driving go into a sort of "autopilot", like they are sleepwalking. They stay in their lane and cue on certain things, but they aren't really paying attention.

If I am driving in the right lane I notice people on phones like to ride in my blind spot behind me to my left, as if they are flying formation with me, not really watching the road but watching me out the corner of their eye and basically just following my moves.

If I brake suddenly to let them pass (because I HATE people driving in my blind spot, especially with headlights shining in my sideview mirror), they will blow past me before reacting, but they will also brake, for no reason other than they saw me do it first.

I'm not going to get into a discussion about cell phone use, but I find this aspect of human behavior to be very interesting, to see how people put one task on autopilot while they focus on another, and how their "autopilot" operates off of certain cues. This has implications way beyond driving.

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

One of the things I notice is that people talking on mobile phones while driving go into a sort of "autopilot", like they are sleepwalking. They stay in their lane and cue on certain things, but they aren't really paying attention.

If I am driving in the right lane I notice people on phones like to ride in my blind spot behind me to my left, as if they are flying formation with me, not really watching the road but watching me out the corner of their eye and basically just following my moves.

If I brake suddenly to let them pass (because I HATE people driving in my blind spot, especially with headlights shining in my sideview mirror), they will blow past me before reacting, but they will also brake, for no reason other than they saw me do it first.

I'm not going to get into a discussion about cell phone use, but I find this aspect of human behavior to be very interesting, to see how people put one task on autopilot while they focus on another, and how their "autopilot" operates off of certain cues. This has implications way beyond driving.

I wonder how far you could take this...

 

[Moach]

It has always amazed me how people don't seem to realize how important a safety feature is a brain.... :facepalm:

and curiously enough, It's flying that scares most people, rather than driving...


Being a devoted follower of the grand all-governing principles of Newton's theory of motion, I usually try and keep what I consider would be a generally safe distance from vehicles in front of me, and that is: as far as conceivably possible

I remember during driving school, the instructor once asked the class what each of us considered "far back enough" - I was appalled at hearing absurdities like "about 3 meters, right?" and "no, no, I think it's more like 5...."

My brother sitting next to me then replied something in the lines of "No way! it's more like 60+ meters" - the instructor immediately turned around and confirmed this answer, looking mighty worried about the fact that less than 1/10th of the students there actually knew such a critical fact.


Driving around the evil streets of Sao Paulo for 10 years, I came to the realization that horrible as this is, it's perhaps a modern form of natural selection. Anyone dumb enough to drive so recklessly is definitely unfit for this dangerous world of metal beasts hurtling headlong into each other. The real tragedy, is that others often get hurt by their stupidity in the process....


I'm not sure what could be done to prevent this madness getting worse in the future... drivers themselves may not be getting dumber, but driving is getting faster and more dangerous with more and more cars to crash into every day....

there may perhaps be hope for improvement if someday drivers would get trained more in the ways pilots do before being casually handed a 2-tonne blunt force weapon...



....but I'm not counting on it :uhh:

my motorway motto: you're as safe as you're afraid.

 

[Artlav]

I'm not sure what could be done to prevent this madness getting worse in the future...

Remove the people from the picture, by making autonomous cars?
Would not really remove the people out of the problem, just offset it to programmers and AI scientists hands.

Require stricter training standards and re-evaluation after each detected rule breaking?
People would just buy licenses and the corruption would shot through the roof.

Increase education standards, to make people understand basic physics, probability theory and risk management on the gut level?
Might work, but good luck achieving that.

drivers themselves may not be getting dumber

I guess what is usually perceived as people getting dumber with each new generation is actually the world getting further and further away from a human design specification's reference environment.

You shouldn't operate a device outside it's absolute maximum ratings if you want it to work well.

 

[Scav]

You shouldn't operate a device outside it's absolute maximum ratings if you want it to work well.

That requires a requisite knowledge of said maximum ratings. How many people are going to undertake that knowledge in a hurry?

 

[Andy44]

Interesting that these discussions always seem to move in the direction of placing more controls on ordinary people or at least removing some of their own controls over their own lives.

I work with this guy who complains about other drivers all the time. If you've ever seen him drive, he's pretty much a huge aggressive jerk behind the wheel. But he loves to talk about how we need new laws for all these poor drivers. Actually, he really just loves to talk, period...

 

[Urwumpe]

Interesting that these discussions always seem to move in the direction of placing more controls on ordinary people or at least removing some of their own controls over their own lives.

I work with this guy who complains about other drivers all the time. If you've ever seen him drive, he's pretty much a huge aggressive jerk behind the wheel. But he loves to talk about how we need new laws for all these poor drivers. Actually, he really just loves to talk, period...

Well, I think that you need two things in modern traffic densities:

Assisting systems for the driver, that help him decide and stay focussed on the road.
And tighter controls by police to find those who risk the lives of others.

It is not their own lives after all, when you drive a 2 ton vehicle at 200 km/h with dozens of other people next to you.

If somebody tailgates or overtakes on the wrong side, he should be pulled out of the road traffic ASAP.