The road safety thread.

[Baron von Biffo]

7 new penalty point offences came into force from midnight. This has to be seen as just a PR exercise since the chance of getting points for any existing offence other than speeding so small that most drivers disregard it.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland...ce-202921.html

[Baron von Biffo]

All responsible parents should buy taxis because it seems that a child can't be injured or killed while travelling in one.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...321444962.html

[Baron von Biffo]

Yet another new penalty point offence is going on the books to be ignored.

http://www.independent.ie/national-n...e-3214926.html

What we should be doing is seizing the cars of anyone caught driving otherwise than in accordance with the conditions of their licence. Of course if the gardaí were allowed to do that the WhineLine switchboard would burn up - 'How's he supposed to get to work Joe?' 'The bankers are not in gaol' and so on and so on.

[Baron von Biffo]

We should look at changing the Learner Permit system to limit the length of time one can drive as a learner and set a maximum number of failed tests. If someone can't pass after say 3 attempts in 3 years that should be the end of it.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland...im-206459.html

[Baron von Biffo]

The lack of enforcement of road traffic laws is working well for offenders.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland...te-207254.html

No matter that people are dying, the Troika is happy that we have fewer guards. And that's the main thing, isn't it?

[Baron von Biffo]

The effective closure of the Traffic Corps is good news for drunk drivers.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland...ai-207902.html

[5intheface]

Black day on the roads in the north, 3 dead including a 1 year old baby, a lorry driver and a motorcyclist. 3 separate incidents.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19697581

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19702106


Death toll on the road up here has gone from being counted in the 100s to dozens but sometimes they all seem to come at once.

[C. Flower]

Self driving cars approved for road use in California.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_te...ns_to_dmv.html

[Count Bobulescu]

Self driving cars approved for road use in California.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_te...ns_to_dmv.html

Here’s more on the Cal law. It passed by 111 votes to 02 which is pretty unusual.
Cal became the third state after Florida and Nevada to pass. Hawaii and Oklahoma are currently under consideration. It’s gathering steam.

Further legislation will be necessary before such vehicles can be sold to the public, but the belief is that they will be on the road in less than five years. 90% or more of all accidents are caused by human error. Two still unresolved issues are insurance liability and protection against malevolent hacking. Very sophisticated encryption required. Women in Saudi want them NOW.

http://www.techhive.com/article/2010...f-hacking.html

[Count Bobulescu]

More on the self-drive car. Some speculation that could be bad news for Eamo.

When I've thought about driverless cars, which if you believe Sergey Brin, will be available within "several years," I've tended to think of them as a drop-in replacement for our current automobiles. So, you'd buy a VW Automaton and it would sit in your driveway until you wanted to go somewhere. Then, you'd hop in, say, "Take me to Lake Merritt," and then just sit back and pop in the latest Animal Collective while the computer drove.

But maybe that's not what would happen at all. Changes in transportation technology have tended to be accompanied by changes to transportation systems, too. Long-time technologist Brad Templeton argues that this will, in fact, be the case. And he's even got an idea of what the big shift might be. We could enter the age of the "whistlecar." If one can hire a cheap specialized 'robotaxi' (or whistlecar) on demand when one has a special automotive need," Templeton writes, "car users can elect to purchase a vehicle only for their most common needs, rather than trying to meet almost all of them -- or to not purchase at all."

This vision is kind of stunning: imagine the Kiva Systems logistics robots that now speed around major warehouses, but for people. Transportation-as-a-service models could really take off in a world of hyperoptimized robotaxis. Not only would the robotaxis be built differently from normal cars, but people's private vehicles (if they had one) would change as they realized how they could use the new system more effectively.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolog...system/262953/

[Baron von Biffo]

The Dail Transport Committee is proposing that the penalty points for phone use should be doubled.

http://www.independent.ie/national-n...s-3243855.html

Why they're suggesting this when the Traffic Corps is being wound own is a bit of a mystery. Just another example of the Irish way of doing things - Loads of tough laws but no enforcement.

[Baron von Biffo]

Experience tells me that this will e just another PR announcement with no follow up but who knows, maybe this time it's for real.

http://www.independent.ie/national-n...l-3247263.html

It would be fantastic to see the guards with a big skip truck seizing bikes from cyclists who ignore red lights and one-way street markings or ride on the footpath.

[Richardbouvet]

Well said Biffo. Dublin cyclists are the most arrogant shower of prix outside Kildare Street. They honestly think they have a right to ignore both traffic and pedestrian lights, and they seem to see nothing wrong with forcing buses behind them (often with 80+ people aboard) to reduce speed to suit their convenience.

Cyclists on bus lanes should at the very least be required to pull in when there is a bus behind them.

[Count Bobulescu]

More on the self drive car, pray there are no roadworks and it doesn’t snow.


http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechcons...cc=nh-20121003

[DCon]

$20 bike? John Gormley will be ecstatic

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland...20-210936.html