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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: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @04:19PM
If you can't drive according to speed limits then you have no business being there. You are an ass too.
The 35 is a maximum speed limit, not the minimum. It's a PUBLIC road fascist pig. Seems to me you're the asshole. What next? Tell old people they are an ass if they walk too slowly on a public sidewalk?
35 zones aren't high speed zones by definition, so if people want to drive at 25 in those zones for whatever non-malicious reason (enjoy the scenery, vehicle/driver can't go so fast) as long as they are not on the overtaking lane, YOU should learn to live with it.
If they are driving slowly on the overtaking lane and they aren't overtaking any vehicles and there are no other vehicles ahead forcing them to go that slow, then yes they are an ass. But otherwise just because someone is driving slower than you want them to doesn't make them an ass. You are the ass for requiring them to drive faster.
If there's only one lane, well too bad, overtake them when you can do so safely and legally.
Yes I too get annoyed when I'm stuck behind someone driving/walking slower and I want to get to some place faster. BUT that doesn't make them an ass. The world doesn't revolve around me, nor around my needs and wants. Other people have their own needs too. The assholes are those who tailgate people and make things more dangerous, and/or cause traffic jams when stuff happens and they can't stop in time.
That said, the google car has a long way to go if it can only have a good safety record by driving at 25 mph...
(Score: 1) by Knowledge Troll on Saturday November 14 2015, @05:08PM
Yes I too get annoyed when I'm stuck behind someone driving/walking slower and I want to get to some place faster. BUT that doesn't make them an ass.
The car is an ass because the routing is bad: why does it not cross the busy roads at right angles? Is it because Google thinks it should drive 25 in a 35 to make it safer? Or is it because they didn't think about it and still didn't think about it and aren't going to correct it after this problem?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 14 2015, @06:38PM
http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/13/google-is-bad-for-traffic/ [dailycaller.com] Was article on google news :)
(Score: 1) by Knowledge Troll on Saturday November 14 2015, @07:24PM
http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/13/google-is-bad-for-traffic/ [dailycaller.com]Was article on google news :)
Haha wow that really made me laugh. Thank you!