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by philomath_mn 406 days ago
Best part is that they probably have data to show that all that patience costs the typical passenger mere seconds to a minute on 99% of rides.

This has always bothered me about aggressive or impatient human drivers: they are probably shaving like 30 seconds off of their daily commute while greatly increasing the odds of an incident.

3 comments

Driving is a cooperative game, which we all win if everyone arrives at their destination safely.
I experienced this phenomena on my electric scooter. I could always scoot faster than someone walking but ultimately it makes little difference because I just spent more time for the crossing signal to turn green. So they end up catching up to me.

Now, when there's long stretch or when you have to go up hill, that's where the electric scooter begins to shine and makes the largest difference.

You are missing all the times where you are enough faster that you catch a green while the other person gets there on red and so they never catch up. It is easy to see/remember the times they catch up.
Interesting - I'm definitely substantially faster on a scooter than walking. Part of it is knowing the best routes, but I think even if there are crossing signals, if you're going further than a few blocks there's just no comparison to walking.
This is also why streets inside cities in the Netherlands are converting to be single-lane, except at intersections - the ability to overtake doesn't make traffic flow faster.
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Please don't do this here.
Or just implement vastly more automated ticketing systems. They are standard in many countries. They could be implemented with limited-purview privacy preserving architectures where that aligns with expectations and values.

But people speeding, driving aggressively, driving anti-socially (by trying to speed past lines and cut in at the front), running lights and stops... this could be squashed forever, saving lives and ultimately making life more pleasant for everyone.

But they won't be implemented with a privacy preserving architecture. They'll be outsourced to a third party with unknown privacy and security, and eventually be treated as a revenue generator, leading cities to implement rule changes that enhance revenue at the cost of privacy and safety.
It's so frustrating. These things are trivially solved. There's basically a 50/50 shot, every time the light cycles, that someone will illegally take a right on red on the street outside my house. All you need is a single cop sitting there and watching. Or just one camera! Argh.
signaling humans for bad behaviors tend to backfire. it program us to recreate that situation in anger. we aren't smart enough to naturally learn lessons that way.
good thing drones are getting smarter
Well sure but drones won't shit, that's why we need the organic piece. I guess they could drop rotten fruit in lieu of shit, but then we need a supply chain to restock the rotten fruit in the drones.