Phantom Auto

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by dddrees

Exactly

Our infrastructure simply has not been able to keep up already. We’ve got a highway so full of pot holes that i counted more than five cars in a 15 mile stretch off the side of the road with flat tires from pot holes one day not long ago. Pot holes on a highway where people drive more than 80 miles an hour. Pot holes on a highway that belongs more in a third world country and not the USA. Wait, maybe the US is now a third world country.

Our infrastructure simply s***s and these heavy a** trucks don’t help it any.

Those aren’t potholes. They are urban habitat installations for critically endangered green ground beetles. Take pride in your community’s efforts to save this wonderful creature.

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

Those aren’t potholes. They are urban habitat installations for critically endangered green ground beetles. Take pride in your community’s efforts to save this wonderful creature.

Well until I had to replace one of my wife’s tires I may have been willing to accept this view even though I still think the US is more and more becoming a third world country. Luckily the wheel wasn’t damaged enough to worry about that as well.

But after having to replace her tire I’m just pissed. Luckily she wasn’t on the highway when it happened but just one of our more glorious primary or secondary roads. That is if a road is determined as the small stretch of concrete between potholes.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by dddrees

Well until I had to replace one of my wife’s tires I may have been willing to accept this view even though I still think the US is more and more becoming a third world country. Luckily the wheel wasn’t damaged enough to worry about that as well.

But after having to replace her tire I’m just pissed. Luckily she wasn’t on the highway when it happened but just one of our more glorious primary or secondary roads. That is if a road is determined as the small stretch of concrete between potholes.

People pay top dollar to go off roading on trails like that. You are blessed with this wonderful off trail experience so close to home. You just need a big tire 4x4 to get the most out of it.

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

People pay top dollar to go off roading on trails like that. You are blessed with this wonderful off trail experience so close to home. You just need a big tire 4x4 to get the most out of it.

Ah, I guess it’s high time I get a HumV.

You just can’t keep widening the highway that you can’t already properly maintain and hope the already existing issues will go away. Actually in this case they widened the existing highway just south of the portion of a highway they have continuously and unsuccessfully have been patching for almost a decade or more. Every year it just keeps getting worse. At least in Germany what they used to do was to remove and replace sections and not just patch. Of course the Autobahn being what the Autobahn used to be demanded that better care be taken. In our case it appears we take no care at all. But then again what are we going to do because traffic is just simply getting out of hand. I can’t see driverless being the answer or at least the only answer. The amount of and type of traffic has to be addressed if you ask me.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by dddrees

Ah, I guess it’s high time I get a HumV.

You just can’t keep widening the highway that you can’t already properly maintain and hope the already existing issues will go away. Actually in this case they widened the existing highway just south of the portion of a highway they have continuously and unsuccessfully have been patching for almost a decade or more. Every year it just keeps getting worse. At least in Germany what they used to do was to remove and replace sections and not just patch. Of course the Autobahn being what the Autobahn used to be demanded that better care be taken. In our case it appears we take no care at all. But then again what are we going to do because traffic is just simply getting out of hand. I can’t see driverless being the answer or at least the only answer. The amount of and type of traffic has to be addressed if you ask me.

A Humvee is a great idea. A Stryker would be more fun though.

Roads aren’t built to last in the US. They are built to inject tax money into the local economy. We could easily, and more cost effectively, build 30 year roads. But we wouldn’t be able to trickle patronage contracts into the economy every year with enduring roads.

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

A Humvee is a great idea. A Stryker would be more fun though.

Roads aren’t built to last in the US. They are built to inject tax money into the local economy. We could easily, and more cost effectively, build 30 year roads. But we wouldn’t be able to trickle patronage contracts into the economy every year with enduring roads.

That’s what you get when your greed is a higher priority than being smart or truly great.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by dddrees

That’s what you get when your greed takes higher priority than being smart or truly great.

It’s not greed. It’s a regular reminder of your tax money at work. You don’t see where most of your taxes go. Construction projects are right there in your face telling you how much love the government has for you.

Would you rather have $2000 toilet seats and $500 hammers or a lifetime of road repairs?

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

It’s not greed. It’s a regular reminder of your tax money at work. You don’t see where most of your taxes go. Construction projects are right there in your face telling you how much love the government has for you.

Would you rather have $2000 toilet seats and $500 hammers or a lifetime of road repairs?

What, it’s still a regular reminder that we waste our money and still our infastructure sucks.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by dddrees

What, it’s still a regular reminder that we waste our money and still our infastructure sucks.

That is the American way!

[Rock]

I wish it was ONLY the American way.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Rock

I wish it was ONLY the American way.

I think we exported it to you during the war.

[wantonebad]

They released the video this morning, have to say it's disturbing to watch a persons last moments on earth and not sure why they made it public, except that they may hope that what seemed to be a perfect storm of concealment and reaction might give the company a positive spin? Regardless I don't think the video should have been released. There was a driver sitting passively looking at her phone or something like that, what's the point of having a safety backup if their going to be distracted with a phone? The lighting in the video and speed of the car seemed to suggest there was nothing that could have been done, I'm not buying it and even one loss is too much, there is negligence here IMHO.

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by wantonebad

They released the video this morning, have to say it's disturbing to watch a persons last moments on earth and not sure why they made it public, except that they may hope that what seemed to be a perfect storm of concealment and reaction might give the company a positive spin? Regardless I don't think the video should have been released. There was a driver sitting passively looking at her phone or something like that, what's the point of having a safety backup if their going to be distracted with a phone? The lighting in the video and speed of the car seemed to suggest there was nothing that could have been done, I'm not buying it and even one loss is too much, there is negligence here IMHO.

Was that why that person was in the car? Sure didn’t look like she had any purpose other than to be on her phone. Be interesting to see if they don’t end up charging her and holding her criminally responsible. The lightening was terrible and she still may not have been able to avoid it, but she wasn’t even alert and aware of what was takening place other than being focused on what was on her phone.

[Rock]

The surroundings seemed to be very dark, the vehicle seemed to be going quickly and it's lights to be very poor. Then throw in a passenger (couldn't call it anything else) that is not paying attention (why would they be - its an autonomous vehicle!)
This is the whole point - you can forget about the person riding in the vehicle being any use - you have just told them that the vehicle drives itself.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Rock

The surroundings seemed to be very dark, the vehicle seemed to be going quickly and it's lights to be very poor. Then throw in a passenger (couldn't call it anything else) that is not paying attention (why would they be - its an autonomous vehicle!)
This is the whole point - you can forget about the person riding in the vehicle being any use - you have just told them that the vehicle drives itself.

I think that is Tesla’s problem with last year’s fatality. When you tell someone something is automatic they disengage their usual defenses and let the system take over.

Doesn’t their pedestrian avoidance device work in the dark? Mine does.

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by Rock

The surroundings seemed to be very dark, the vehicle seemed to be going quickly and it's lights to be very poor. Then throw in a passenger (couldn't call it anything else) that is not paying attention (why would they be - its an autonomous vehicle!)
This is the whole point - you can forget about the person riding in the vehicle being any use - you have just told them that the vehicle drives itself.

Is that what they told her? So why was she there again? Wasn’t she supposed to be a backup safety measure? I don’t know that’s why I ask?