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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @03:49PM
Yesterday. But technically, it was a Toyota Prius.
The Prius is today's stereotypical "bad driver's car". In prior decades, it would probably have been some blue-haired old lady in a 1970's Buick Electra, but now you see ultra-slow drivers in a Prius. The age of the driver doesn't seem to matter; it's now a factor of the apathy of the driver towards the art of driving. And it's disheartening to see that what could have been the solution to this problem is going to be as bad as, if not worse than, the original problem. (Actually, I think that last phrase could summarize almost all of Google's efforts these days.)
(Score: 1) by Knowledge Troll on Saturday November 14 2015, @05:37PM
The age of the driver doesn't seem to matter; it's now a factor of the apathy of the driver towards the art of driving.
The knee-jerk reactions of the posters here are extremely worrying for me because of what you just pointed out. They seem to be unable to out think the route and behavior of this obviously not optimized antonymous vehicle system. If these are drivers that aren't even as smart as a prototype robot so they can't even figure out when to fault it for driving like a dick I'll be glad when the autonomous vehicles come around because the car companies will do it better and Google will have to catch up even if computer nerds give them an unreasonable pass for no reason.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Saturday November 14 2015, @08:58PM
Any time you have to post this many times trying in vain to defend your own submission it should stand out as a clear indication that your whole approach was wrong and trolling.
You lost your audience the instant you made your bias so blatantly obvious. Golf cart? Really?
Chock it up to experience and learn to include some balance in your submissions.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by Knowledge Troll on Saturday November 14 2015, @09:41PM
I've been keeping an eye on the mod points since posting AC and after. Thanks for the tips, I'll find a smoother way of delivery.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Sunday November 15 2015, @01:53AM
they can't even figure out when to fault it for driving like a dick
My life is so much happier since I quit blaming people for problems. I'm such a better problem solver, too.
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