Re:Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street
by dpark on Tuesday March 20, 2018 @10:36AM
(#16628916)
At what speed do tall vehicles suddenly become transparent?
The idea that cars should drive past tall vehicles at 5 mph is slightly ridiculous. I have never ridden in a car with someone who constantly adjusted their driving speed based on the cars parked on the road. Choosing a reasonable speed? Of course. Extra care at obvious obstructions? Absolutely. Slowing traffic to 5mph because a van happens to be parked? No.
Re:Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street
by c22 on Tuesday March 20, 2018 @12:56PM
(#16630350)
It is not ridiculous if you are driving in a narrow lane close to the obstacles. When I am driving on a residential (one lane, parked cars on both sides) street and I am approaching a tall opaque van I start by noticing if anyone is around it as I approach, when I have better sight lines, then as I get near it I absolutely slow down from an average speed of 15-20mph to well under 10mph and yes, depending on the situation sometimes as low as 5mph or slower. When I am on a faster road with two or more lanes there is often room to move laterally in these situations and so my speed reduction is less extreme, but I absolutely do still slow down as I pass these vans/trucks, cover the brakes and also check my blind spot to see if there is room for evasive maneuvers should they be required. If I see people in the area as I approach and have reason to believe they might try to cross, enter or exit a car, or otherwise be near the lane of traffic I will often change lanes to the left if possible.
Near my house there is an arterial I often cross where a large bush on the corner of the intersection obscures the view to the left from the stop sign roughly 10 feet back. I don't just stop at the sign then YOLO through the intersection, I stop, then creep forward, first looking for pedestrians or bicyclist that might step out from the bushes, then at the edge of bushes I stop again and look again both left and right for cars and bikes or pedestrians in the far lane before proceeding across. I often have to stop another time between the sign and the bushes for the pedestrian or bicyclist that just emerged, if I was focusing on getting across the arterial and beating cross traffic I would have killed every one of them.