K-57

Traffic, more traffic, Driving and Ray Guns

I've always had a certain interest in traffic conditions and/or "bad" driving. When I was too young to drive I imagined that one day I would invent a ray gun that would melt the "bad" driver's engine, thus making the car worthless and non-movable. I even picked out "stupid" or "mean" drivers' cars to shoot with my imaginary gun. After all, they drove so "badly" they didn't deserve to be on the road. "Look! He cut that car off!" ZAP!

So much for the 1960's. When I later learned it might be too difficult to make something so selective or powerful, I dropped the idea. Well, it turns out my idea wasn't so bad after all. Check out this link for an idea on how to stop police chases. A Ray Gun!?! And here is a story from Wired on "Car Chase Tech That's Really Hot". Cool idea and one I actually came up with....and never did anything about. Now someone needs to come up with a way to avoid shooting the wrong car. That is, don't shoot my car!

If you ever question the strange things drivers do, just remember this story about a car left running while hanging from a telephone wire! The driver jumped out and left the scene to catch a bus.

Another thing I've learned is that drivers are not really "bad". They just don't know how to drive very well. Cop and a Half suggests an idea of this: If all drivers cooperated we might have an easier commute. The life and times of shoe suggests it may be a matter of following the rules. I'd be happy if people drove based on what was going on in front of them. This article from Edmunds or this article from the California DMV are the best I've seen so far. The kind of driving I like to see is more than the driving techniques as found here, here or here. Yes, those techniques are all important but do any of them suggest that the following distance you leave in front of you can help protect you from getting hit from behind? Or that going faster than the cars in front of you promotes traffic jams? Think about that a minute.

I started these thoughts after watching the movie Koyaanisqatsi. (The title translation is Life out of balance and 'finding balance' is a typical theme for me). The movie (music only) included high speed film segments of cars driving on the highway. One segment showed this very thing: cars driving faster than those in front. The result was a 'bubble' of stopped cars that moved back, in the opposite direction of traffic. The camera followed this 'bubble' back around two curves. So, The next time you are on the highway in 'stop and go' traffic think about this. Look in front of you to see if you can find a better way.

Perhaps Microsoft has the answer with Avoid the Commute: Work at Home!

Well, I better take my shower now so I can drive (on the highway) to work.

Tags: traffic | Technology | driving | Movies

posted by Kev @ 4/15/2005 07:30:00 AM