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from the putt-putt-putt-putt-putt-putt dept.
A Google small neighorbood electric vehicle (aka golf cart) was recently pulled over while traveling on an extremely busy main thoroughfare in the Silicon Valley and a cute story is forming in the media about a cop who pulls over a car with no driver for no reason. What happened you ask? The car was driving slowly, 24 mph (40 kmh) in a 35 mph (55 kmh) and had a chain of other cars behind it being held up. The Google team even acts as if this is some kind of badge of honor: Driving too slowly? Bet humans don't get pulled over for that too often.
Yes, well, they do in fact get pulled over exactly for things like this. California has a law about holding up traffic on a highway. California has a law about driving at speeds so low they are dangerous because differences with other vehicles are too high. None of those laws were broken here as the Google vehicle was never actually operating outside of the law. However being inside the law isn't what we should be analyzing.
When was the last time you saw a golf cart holding up traffic on a major street in a major city? If you saw that would you think it was cute? What kind of jerk would think that was appropriate then respond that its fine because driving that slow makes things safer. The Google car and worse, the Google team. Yay?
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @02:24PM
California has some basic speed laws... including 5 or more vehicles following you, you must pull over (where it is saft) and allow them to all pass you. This for farm equipment or cars. ( I learned to drive in CA while living on a farm).
It sounds more like it is warning ticket to write but to whom? Is why this is news. Whom to write the ticket to and vehicle brand and model.
UPS got out of a lot of parking tivkets in NY, when they pointed outt that "UPS truck" was not the legal type of vehicle so the tickets where invalid. The writer was required to but down the frame manufacture (gmc, ford, international, ....) which was not branded on the outside of the truck.