Auto Safety Tech May Encourage Dangerous Driving 601
longacre writes "Modern highway planning schemes designed to make roads safer combined with the comfort and safety technology found in the modern automobile may actually be putting us in danger, according to a compelling piece in Popular Mechanics. Citing studies and anecdotal evidence, the article points out that a driver on a narrow mountain road will probably drive as if their life depends on it; but the same driver on an eight-lane freeway with gradual curves and little traffic may be lulled into speeding while chatting on his cellphone. Quoting: 'Modern cars are quiet, powerful and capable of astonishing grip in curves, even on wet pavement. That's swell, of course, until you suddenly lose traction at 75 mph. The sense of confidence bred by all this capability makes us feel safe, which causes us to drive faster than we probably should. We don't want to make cars with poor response, but perhaps we could design cues — steering-wheel vibration devices, as in video games? — that make us feel less safe at speed and encourage more care. ... In college I drove an Austin-Healey 3000 that somehow felt faster at 45 mph than my Mazda RX-8 (or even my Toyota Highlander Hybrid) feels at 75 mph. That was a good thing.'"
Only problem (Score:2, Informative)
There are a lot more accidents on windy mountain roads than on motorways.
Re:No kidding! (Score:4, Informative)
Unfortunately, those who need it the most [wikipedia.org] will be the ones who fight it the hardest.
But rather than look for ways to fight our nature, embrace it and make the car a living room. Take the steering wheel out of the hands of our admittedly poor hands and automate it.
The modern airliner is also as close to 'not flying' for the pilot. If they can take something as complicated as that and automate it to the point where you just need the equivalent of a dead man switch for the majority of the flight, you can do it for those long stretches of highway/freeway.
Re:are you sure? (Score:3, Informative)
You seem to be right, based on a random assortment of numbers from this site [unece.org].
Interestingly, the numbers killed seem to be higher in rural areas in spite of this, which is more in line with my guess based on news reports over the years.
Re:No kidding! (Score:3, Informative)
You'll likely be perfectly fine, since the posted speed limit either 5 or 10 mph less than the actual design speed of the road (5 if the design speed is less than 45 mph, 10 if the design speed is 45 mph or higher).
Moreover, the design speed can be based on several things, such as vehicle traction or sight distances (which corresponds to reaction time). And that speed is calculated using the lowest common denominator (e.g. a loaded Semi driven by a drunk, blind old lady -- I exaggerate, but you get the idea). A normal driver -- a young-to-middle-aged person in a modern sedan, for example -- can exceed the design speed somewhat while still driving safely.
The problem is the "dangerously merging" and "trying to get in front of traffic" (by which you mean, making unsafe lane changes) aspects, not the speeding. It would be perfectly fine if he were instead doing that 95-100 in a clear lane (or a lane that was populated with other cars also doing 95-100, and following each other at a safe distance) and not weaving. This is why the German autobahn is safe (I believe it's more safe than American interstates, but I can't find a source to back that claim up).
(And yes, I am a civil engineer, albeit not yet professionally licensed.)
Re:No kidding! (Score:4, Informative)
Ah, here's [hwysafety.com] a citation for the claim that higher speed limits (or no limits) can be safer!
just look at the data (Score:3, Informative)
Just look at fatal accident rates for 100,000,000 vehicle miles: it's been steadily decreasing since 1920, by at least an order of magnitude.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/UsFatalAutoAccidentRates.png [wikimedia.org]
Furthermore, if you look at the German statistics, accident rates have been decreasing despite steadily increasing speeds (85th percentile speed is 95mph):
http://www.abd.org.uk/images/mway_sl3~.gif [abd.org.uk]
So: new technologies are making us safer and let us travel at higher speeds. Sorry, but this isn't even a glass-half-empty situation.