eXotic-Lighting Home Johns Personal Information
I'm going to start this with a set of problem statements.
In our state, we have a problem with Drunk Drivers.
We are spending a LOT of money as a state, and as a society rebuilding our roads to allow for more cars. We also have more and more and more unmarked police cars patrolling the highway.
We also are starting (or depending on your perspective continuing) to have huge traffic problems.
Surely, there is a better way to free these police officers from playing the hide and seek game with the population, make our roads safer and easier to travel, and all while spending LESS money on building roads.
I think there is. Self Driving Cars. But it's not quite that simple… We have to do some things to help this movement along. Let me give you the proposal, and then take you thru it.
We need to pass a law (either thru a voter initiative, or thru getting a legislator to sponsor the legislation), which says… "A: Any car that can self navigate and can pass a test equivalent to the states "drivers license test" shall be legal for ANYONE to use in automated driving mode on any road in the state. B: Any car that can self navigate, and has a 2 year safety record that is better than that of the "average" driver in Washington state, may exceed the speed limit in any non-righthand lane of any road in the state by as much as the manufacturer of the self driving system feels safe. C: Any car that can self navigate may use any express lane at any time."
First, lets look at part A:
This gives the self driving car manufacturers a state that will allow them to run their vehicles. That's reason enough for them to do their testing here, and to make this state their initial market.
Secondly, drunks can drive home from the bar if the car is on "auto", meaning that the roads will be safer at night. (a side effect of this is that courts can ORDER anyone caught driving drunk to equip their car with this technology, and ONLY drive it in auto mode.)
It also means that kids and elderly folks can use cars to get around.
Automated cars will not slow down suddenly or rubberneck, and will merge smoothly in rougher traffic. They will accelerate more smoothly at traffic lights, meaning that in a long line of cars, you will get going thru the light faster, meaning higher thruput for traffic.
In congested conditions on the freeway, traffic will move more smoothly as these cars can make decisions more quickly and react more quickly, and they can drive more "optimally" than the average tired human driving home from work.
No more falling asleep at the wheel and dying.
No more people staying in the left passing lane when they are going slowly, these cars will pass and then get back out of the way. Opening the road for other people to get by,
If the car is driving you get to read or sleep on your way home - allowing you to make better use of your time.
Now, lets add in part B. If the safety record of the car is good, then it gets to go faster. The faster you go, the less time you are on the road. The less time you are a part of the traffic problem. The more cars we have that do this, the less congestion there is overall with the same roads that we use now.
With self driving cars, since the "worry" has always been around safety,. police won't HAVE to stop you for speeding as the car is proven to be safe. They can have fewer officers on the highway, and more on retrieving stolen property, and catching the ebay scammers.
C: The purpose of express lanes is to reward people that are carring a higher percentage of the traffic. Self Driving cars will drive more efficiently than human driven cars, and so they should be rewarded, as they will get on and off the freeways faster.
This is a Win Win proposition. Everyone gets a better traffic situation, and an easier life, and it doesn't cost the state anything, and in fact it allows them to retask resources to other problems (police and road construction as the technology becomes heavily adopted.) Also, it's a SAFE bill to pass today, as there are no self driving cars yet, So, nobody will be immediately impacted. (In other words, the odds of it passing the legislature are higher.) but this bill will add a LOT of incentive to people that are thinking about building these systems. And with the speed limit restriction lifted, it will be in peoples SELF INTEREST to buy these devices, and it almost completely solves the problem of drunk driving. It ALLOWS people to use their cars when drunk, which is what the drunks want, but it allows the streets to be safe which is what we want. And it makes the statement that Washington state WANTS these cars, and that's not a bad message to send to would be manufacturers. The biggest thing that it does is set the tone for the future of the state. One that says that we WANT to embrace the future and have our lives be better.
If you would like a description of the "state of the art" in the construction of self driving cars, I can certainly provide you with one. (the Economist reports that GM will launch a self driving car in 2008 - the Opal Vectra)