- Few traffic jams—cars will have a slower top speed, but rarely stop
- No traffic lights—cars talk to each other
- Dramatically less pollution Pedestrians are far safer, bicycling becomes fun again
- No parking issues—the car drives away and comes back when you need it
- Lower costs and more access for more people more often
- Instant and efficient carpooling, since the car knows who’s going where
No, tailgating doesn’t get you where you need to go faster
A study published on Thursday (Dec. 14) in the journal IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems uses mathematical simulations to show that tightly following a car in front of you will only worsen traffic jams. Instead it proposes that drivers adjust their position based on both the car in front and behind to keep traffic flow smooth. This small behavioral tweak could as much as halve commute time on certain roads.[Source: MIT researchers have developed a new algorithm for cars that could halve congestion — Quartz]
Open your door the Dutch way and save a cyclist's life
[www.youtube.com/watch](httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzIf80eSfCg)
Here's a simple lifehack that could save some lives or injuries.
Open the door with the opposite hand instead of the one closest to the door. That way, your body will be forced to turn and your gaze will meet the road and any incoming cyclist.
Audi vehicles to talk to U.S. traffic signals in first for industry
Audi's system allows the vehicle to display a countdown before a red light turns to green. Knowing how much time one has before the light changes to green will relieve much of the anxiety of waiting, Malhotra said.
The countdown will also appear on the dashboard if the vehicle determines it will not be able to make an approaching light before it turns red, to allow the driver to begin to brake.
While waiting for a red light to turn green, the display will disappear a few seconds before the light turns green, forcing drivers to pay attention to the intersection and determine when it is safe to proceed, said Malhotra.
The future is now. Here's the link for the article on Reuters.
Self-driving car benefits
Taken from Seth Godin’s blog:
Can’t wait.
To summarise, in understanding this problem we must not ignore its inherent observation selection effect. This resides in the fact that when we randomly select a driver and ask her whether she thinks the next lane is faster, more often than not we will have selected a driver from the lane which is in fact slower and more densely packed. When we realize this, we see that no case has been made for recommending that drivers change lanes less frequently in order to speed up overall traffic flow.
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In this GIF, you quickly come to understand that cars are not very space efficient.
Why do Russians get into so many traffic accidents?
In a fairly important number of car-related videos (accidents, crashes, races), the cameraman is Russian. Go on Snotr and find car videos, you’ll see for yourself.
According to Marina Galperina of Animal New-York, there are rational reasons for this:
Dash-cam footage is the only real way to substantiate your claims in the court of law. Forget witnesses. Hit and runs are very common and insurance companies notoriously specialize in denying claims. Two-way insurance coverage is very expensive and almost completely unavailable for vehicles over ten years old-the drivers can only get basic liability. Get into a minor or major accident and expect the other party to lie to the police or better yet, flee after rear-ending you. Since your insurance won’t pay unless the offender is found and sued, you’ll see dash-cam videos of post hit and run pursuits for plate numbers.
And sometimes drivers back up or bump their pre-dented car into yours. It used to be a mob thing, with the accident-staging specialists working in groups. After the “accident,” the offending driver – often an elderly lady – is confronted by a crowd of “witnesses,” psychologically pressured and intimidated to pay up cash on the spot. Since the Age of the Dash-cam, hustle has withered from a flourishing enterprise to a dying trade, mainly thriving in the provinces where dash-cams are less prevalent.
Now, I know.
Why is the VW group so successful?
The Volkswagen group owns about 12 brands and dominates some markets. Why?
Great piece on the Autoextremist:
We only have to look as far as the VW Group to see how things are dramatically unfolding. As most industry insiders know, the VW Group, led by the maniacal genius, Ferdinand Piech, is on an unbelievable roll right now. The VW Group boasts twelve brands from seven European countries: Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche (and SEAT, SKODA, Ducati motorcycles, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania and MAN).
That’s quite a lineup. Normally, it would be a recipe for disaster leading to a train wreck of monumental proportions, a quagmire of dismal profits, hazy brand images, rampant cannibalism among the Group’s brands in the marketplace, and generally a heaping, steaming bowl of Not Good. But somehow, someway the VW Group is orchestrating the most successful array of brands the industry has seen since GM’s heyday (roughly 1957–1977). And they’re doing it in a similar fashion too.