urbanSTL

P-D - Ferguson man charged in fatal shootout on I-170 in Olivette

Note, in the last paragraph:

"According to court documents, Pittman's offenses include multiple traffic violations in Velda City, Wellston and Florissant."

kipfilet wrote: ↑

Dec 04, 2020

@quincunx Got it. I agree with you regarding Metrolink, but physical barriers on highway ramps are harder to circumvent and could maybe make a difference.
@db: I understand, my point still stands. I think that anything that does not involve physical barriers won't be much effective. 

I don't even remember if I've ever seen a toll road with physical barriers. Certainly not anytime in the last ten years. Anymore it's getting hard to find a toll road with attendants where you can pay cash. There just aren't any cash tollbooths in New York or New Jersey anymore. It's all cashless autopay stuff. Chicago seems to have gone the same way within the last couple of years. You barely even have to slow down. For some of the stuff in New York/New Jersey you actually don't even have to slow down. There are no booths. Just bridges with cameras and RFID readers across the highway.

And toll gates for transit systems mean nothing unless there's an attendant on duty. Which . . . there never is anymore. People are too expensive. It's all automated.

Will AVs end road rage?

"Olivette Police Chief David Wolf said at a news conference Friday that the shooting appeared to be related to a road rage incident involving two drivers who did not know each other before the shootout. Whitted was caught in the crossfire."

quincunx wrote: ↑

Dec 05, 2020

Will AVs end road rage?

"Olivette Police Chief David Wolf said at a news conference Friday that the shooting appeared to be related to a road rage incident involving two drivers who did not know each other before the shootout. Whitted was caught in the crossfire."

Once AV's are everywhere a lot of stuff will end.  Increased capacity on the road systems will alleviate congestion and places to park cars will be far fewer.  The auto insurance biz will have far fewer players.  Maybe Liberty Mutual will go out of business.  We can only hope. 

Seems a significant portion of car owners really like being able to drive recklessly. And project power so they can feel big and strong. Will they give that up with an AV? I suppose auto makers would find a wY to satisfy that in an AV. And will the police be able to disable an AV?

quincunx wrote: ↑

Dec 05, 2020

Seems a significant portion of car owners really like being able to drive recklessly. And project power so they can feel big and strong. Will they give that up with an AV? I suppose auto makers would find a wY to satisfy that in an AV. And will the police be able to disable an AV?

dude you have got to get snap out of this bizarre car hate fetish....most people drive because they have to, nobody has some bizarre dominance mentality about their car.

Explain obsession with pickup trucks then. 

kipfilet wrote: ↑

Dec 05, 2020

Explain obsession with pickup trucks then. 

majority of people buy them for the functionality because of their needs. 

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Dec 05, 2020

kipfilet wrote: ↑

Dec 05, 2020

Explain obsession with pickup trucks then. 

majority of people buy them for the functionality because of their needs. 

A lot of metro-area residents hauling their farm supplies between suburbs, eh?

According to Edwards’ data, 75 percent of truck owners use their truck for towing one time a year or less (meaning, never). Nearly 70 percent of truck owners go off-road one time a year or less. And a full 35 percent of truck owners use their truck for hauling—putting something in the bed, its ostensible raison d’être—once a year or less.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you ... oy-costume

Yeah because trucks are just for farming needs.....go to any construction site, they’re all carrying toolboxes  and I’d venture that 90% of those would say they haul something one or 2 times a year on those surveys because they aren’t thinking about their permanent toolbox.

And to tie this back to any sort of point- who cares what people drive. Driving and cars have never been safer then now and it keeps getting even more safer with more technology introduced in cars and roadways

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Dec 05, 2020

majority of people buy them for the functionality because of their needs. 

LOL. you're being disingenuous.

oh, and f*ck cars.

^ i'm sure some do buy for their needs. nobody said otherwise. but the data says that most don't.

and that still doesn't address the increasing size of these things, which has been linked to increased pedestrian and cyclist fatalities. they need to be regulated back to sanity.

While on the subject of cars, even though this isn't the reason for this thread, I believe American Car Companies are shooting themselves in the foot now that they're discontinuing most of their sedans in favor of trucks and SUVs. What we see now is just a "fad" with big trucks and SUVs. All of a sudden, things will change, people will want smaller cars (sedans), and American Companies (GM, Ford, Chrysler) will be rushing around and will pump out junk to compete with their European and Asian counterparts.

I am a FedEx driver most of my routs are in st. Charles and over the last 5 years I can tell you from what I can tell is people are buying bigger trucks. From what I can tell is a status symbol or a fad. They never seem to get much ware and tear on them. 

quincunx wrote: ↑

Dec 05, 2020

Seems a significant portion of car owners really like being able to drive recklessly. And project power so they can feel big and strong. Will they give that up with an AV? I suppose auto makers would find a wY to satisfy that in an AV. And will the police be able to disable an AV?

Similarly, the thing that gets me in the AV conversation is that I never hear anyone address the social hurdle of the average American giving up control.  It's instead always just the technical argument of AI.

Even if the AI problems were 100% solved, I think there's possibly a huge social hurdle.  With the large numbers in this country that like to roll "live free or die" to the extreme and believe in wild conspiracy theories, do we really think they're going to give an inch when it comes to giving up one bit of control over their immediate and prime method of transportation and freedom and ability to plow the f*ck thru a lotta sh*t?

I say "prolly not".

Not to mention, self-driving cars will obviously cost a heck of a lot more than regular cars, so those with a smaller income will be priced out of the market, whether they would like one or not. 

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Dec 05, 2020

kipfilet wrote: ↑

Dec 05, 2020

Explain obsession with pickup trucks then. 

majority of people buy them for the functionality because of their needs. 

Maybe you only hang out with farmers and real estate contractors. Anecdotal, I know, but I can assure you that all the people I know personally who own a pickup truck have zero professional need for it. 

OnTheEdge wrote: ↑

Dec 05, 2020

quincunx wrote: ↑

Dec 05, 2020

Seems a significant portion of car owners really like being able to drive recklessly. And project power so they can feel big and strong. Will they give that up with an AV? I suppose auto makers would find a wY to satisfy that in an AV. And will the police be able to disable an AV?

Similarly, the thing that gets me in the AV conversation is that I never hear anyone address the social hurdle of the average American giving up control.  It's instead always just the technical argument of AI.

Even if the AI problems were 100% solved, I think there's possibly a huge social hurdle.  With the large numbers in this country that like to roll "live free or die" to the extreme and believe in wild conspiracy theories, do we really think they're going to give an inch when it comes to giving up one bit of control over their immediate and prime method of transportation and freedom and ability to plow the f*ck thru a lotta sh*t?

I say "prolly not".

I've wondered if some part of people's fear of flying is that they aren't flying the plane. I've wondered if that will carry over to AVs.

sc4mayor wrote: ↑

Dec 05, 2020

KTA has physical barriers in some spots, usually just a swing arm that comes up and down.  The bigger busier booths were having those cycled out though...the smaller rural booths that are fully automated (too little traffic) will probably retain those permanently.  They still have attendants at most exit plaza's too, again excluding the rural booths.  The main entrance/exit plazas at Lawrence, Topeka and Belle Plaine were upgraded to open road tolling about a year before I left Kansas.  You can blast though those at 80-85mph (they still have cash plazas off to the side for non KTAG users tho).  The rest are still pretty traditional, however.

Pennsylvania still took cash as well as recently as a couple of years ago. But I don't recall the physical barriers. And they're quite definitely gone in Chicagoland, New Jersey, and New York. No barriers. No cash. You can pay after the fact on a website if you don't have a device, but I believe the tolls are higher that way. Quite forgot about barriers on the Kansas Turnpike, but it's been a few years and I didn't really get off at any of the minor plazas. My aim in Kansas is usually to be not in Kansas as quickly as possible. (I've made exceptions, but not too often.)

But my basic point was that they're not really the in-thing these days. Tolling is increasingly done without even slowing down. The toll plazas of the past, with grimy shantys and tired attendants watching you throw quarters into a basket are slowly going out. They're not gone yet, but they do seem to be going.

I work part time at a bar in south city, and yesterday a neighbor came in to see if our external cameras caught the video of his wife, as a pedestrian, crossing the street and being hit by a car.  I did find it and could not believe the person didn't bother to stop.  she was hit by the front driver corner, flipped onto the hood and then rolled off and the car barely slowed down.  It wasn't at a high speed and he said she is OK.  I just could NOT believe they drove off.  I am very worried about our society's future.