Do self driving cars tailgate

[roger wiegand]

Hey-- a new study just came out last week showing that Boston was the second safest city to drive in out of the largest 100 cities in the US. We do have some unusual conventions (like those cars turning left _will_ turn in front of you at the light), but mostly it's a problem for tourists. Regular Boston drivers know and follow the "rules", consistency of behavior is what's key to everyone being safe. Perhaps it's not for the faint of heart, but I prefer Boston commute traffic with its relentless pursuit of efficiency to what I've experienced elsewhere.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Hey-- a new study just came out last week showing that Boston was the second safest city to drive in out of the largest 100 cities in the US. We do have some unusual conventions (like those cars turning left _will_ turn in front of you at the light), but mostly it's a problem for tourists. Regular Boston drivers know and follow the "rules", consistency of behavior is what's key to everyone being safe. Perhaps it's not for the faint of heart, but I prefer Boston commute traffic with its relentless pursuit of efficiency to what I've experienced elsewhere.

It was challenging to get in and out of Boston this summer with the Sumner tunnel closed. Having out of state plates earned me several upraised open hand "what?" waves rather than a fist or finger gesture. I only got the "Moron" yell once, as I crept along.

I sure hated seeing the images of the pile-up in Texas.

[roger wiegand]

They teach the middle finger salute in driving schools here ;-)

[Jim Koepke]

I guess tailgating is following to close for conditions. So a robot car can be much closer and still be perfectly safe.
Bill D

Is this based on the supposed faster reaction time of a robot driver? The stopping distance when the brakes are applied will be the same whether it is done by a human or a robot.

From > https://www.travelers.com/resources/...owing-distance

The National Safety Council recommends a minimum three-second following distance.

Many years ago the California Highway Patrol recommended a two-second following distance.

Not sure why it was changed. I have noticed when someone is two-seconds behind me it appears they are too close. As an old school kind of guy, I like to keep at least two-seconds behind the vehicle ahead of me. Three seconds allows for less sudden braking and helps to keep those behind me from rear ending me.

An alert human driver can notice changing traffic conditions ahead of the car directly in front of them. Though I have seen a lot of tailgaters who don't and end up on the side of the road to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of them.

I wonder how well programmers have created anticipatory logarithms and what kind of sensors they have for detecting slow downs or brake lights ahead of the car they are behind.

What I would like to find is an effective way to get tailgaters to stop tailgating.

jtk

[Rick Potter]

I can tell you factually that driving a Tesla with the auto pilot on in traffic makes for a jerky ride, as the car will slow or even slam on the brakes if someone gets into your lane too close in front of you.

I don't turn it on during the Kamikaze rush hour times.

[Alan Lightstone]

I can tell you factually that driving a Tesla with the auto pilot on in traffic makes for a jerky ride, as the car will slow or even slam on the brakes if someone gets into your lane too close in front of you.

I don't turn it on during the Kamikaze rush hour times.

True, Rick. And that does drive me crazy at times. But it is always watching, and you, as a human, aren't. So, despite the flaws, I think it is much safer. Especially in traffic, so I always use it there. The FSD (Full self driving) does get better over time with updates, but it is clearly not ready for full autonomous driving. No system is yet. But given time....

[Doug Garson]

The FSD (Full self driving) does get better over time with updates, but it is clearly not ready for full autonomous driving. No system is yet. But given time....

Many human drivers aren't either.

[Lee DeRaud]

Many human drivers aren't either.

You misspelled "most"...

[Doug Garson]

You misspelled "most"...

Darn spellcheck.

[Lee DeRaud]

Many years ago the California Highway Patrol recommended a two-second following distance.

Not sure why it was changed.

Possibly because the average human driver is even worse at estimating time than they are at estimating distance?

[Doug Garson]

Possibly because the average human driver is even worse at estimating time than they are at estimating distance?

Lee, you spelled every wrong.

[Thomas McCurnin]

If they did, then I would hope they would start the grill and serve up some Brats and Beer.

[Jim Koepke]

If they did, then I would hope they would start the grill and serve up some Brats and Beer.

LOL!

jtk

[Chris Parks]

Along the same lines this discussion automated truck convoys have been trialled in Europe for a few years now Semi-automated truck convoys get green light for UK trials | Transport policy | The Guardian

In Europe it is called platooning as explained here Volvo's Truck Convoy Successfully Completes Journey Through Europe | OEM Off-Highway (oemoffhighway.com)

My car has Automatic Cruise Control and the distance can be set from the cars in front if needed. Under a speed that is walking pace in a line of traffic it will self steer and keep its position in the lane relative to the other cars around it without driver input. At higher speeds if the lane keeping is turned on it requires steering input from the driver at 13 second intervals or less to prove he or she is paying attention much like the deadman's handle in a train.

There was a thread on this subject some years and one of the forum members was working with a company that is exploring the possibility of cars talking to one another along with the car talking to traffic lights and other controls to increase the traffic flow etc in certain situations, this has also been trialled in Europe as well.

[Curt Harms]

There is a somewhat notorious road west of Philadelphia officially I-476 but known to locals as "The Blue route". One reason it's notorious is that 3 lanes become two for a few miles then back to 3. Who would ever have thought, when the road was being planned that this would be a bottleneck? Another is merging traffic from other busy local road. I don't drive it often but often enough that I've though that if vehicles had a means to sequence with one another traffic capacity would likely increase - some drivers are just SO SO important that courtesy and rules of the road don't apply to them. If there were an automated system perhaps capacity might increase, bent tin might decrease.