Oi! You don't have right-of-way!

[Chromatix]

Yes, I've seen the police dashcams, they're real eye-openers sometimes.

What I was suggesting was that ordinary citizens start fitting them too, and in the rear as well as the front. Admittedly keeping the lenses clean could be tricky, but having them point through the existing windows - especially through a wiped area - would help that.

[Cats]

Cats, you don't live in San Francisco, do you? My husband hates driving there so much that when we go I HAVE to do the driving.

Nah, I live on the East Coast, surrounded by Massholes galore.

[Broomjockey]

I reckon it's a good idea to fit video cameras to every car. Whether it's recording whenever the ignition is on, or only when a sharp manoeuvre is detected (as is done on some safe-driver schemes)

I think in most cases, a "black box" type set up would be sufficient, something to measure speed, tire direction, etc. for the past 15 minutes or so.

[mattm04]

Nah, I live on the East Coast, surrounded by Massholes galore.

Aaah, Massholes. The idiots who try to run across a 4 lane roadway (predecessor to the interstate so it is windy and hilly) in a 45 MPH zone about 5 feet in front of my SUV, with a cop behind me.

If i had not stopped in time you would be hurting reallllly bad.

[Chromatix]

The advantage of cameras over blackboxes is that you get to shop tailgaters, cutters, etc. It means that most people would actually *want* such a thing attached to their car. Generally it would take an insurance discount or a mandate to get people to fit a blackbox, and mandates don't generally apply to old cars.

A blackbox tells people what your car did and how the controls were manipulated; it doesn't automatically show the reasons *why*. Sometimes it's obvious, but often not. Something as simple as "was the light green when you entered the junction?" is not answered by examining the wreckage and the blackbox - presently it takes third-party witnesses - but a camera would show it.

Cameras also show when road-rage happens. Tailgating, reversing in a queue, cutting off, and simple excessive speeding are all very visible on a video recording. These are all external factors which can affect the performance of the driver, and the outcome of any unexpected hazard encounter.

[protege]

Damn...this thread reminds me of the Pitt and CMU students here. They just *love* to run out ahead of traffic. Usually at night, and the vast majority of those fools seem to be wearing dark clothing at the time. Then they get hit, or *nearly* hit, and have the nerve to complain about it. Sorry, but if you're stupid enough to dart out in front of oncoming traffic--which is usually moving much faster than the 25mph speed limit--you *deserve* to get hit. That's why every intersection in that part of town stays at "all red" longer than anywhere else--to let most of those fools cross. Sad that they're in college, and can't even handle crossing the street

[Dreamstalker]

BU students aren't much better. We call them "squirrels". Large packs of them crossing against the light seems to be the newest thing. Also cyclists wearing black, on black bikes, at night with no flashers of any kind. Usually the only reason mom sees them is that I'm in the car and they decide to cross on my side. We think these geniuses actually want to get hit so they can get lots of money (why is it that auto drivers are immediately considered responsible when a non-driver is hit for doing something stupid?).

What I was suggesting was that ordinary citizens start fitting them too, and in the rear as well as the front. Admittedly keeping the lenses clean could be tricky, but having them point through the existing windows - especially through a wiped area - would help that.

I've been telling my mom she should do this for years...last week we almost got hit by some moron going the wrong way in a rotary. Best we can figure is that she came from Memorial Drive and took the wrong lane...but it's clearly marked. The car was pretty banged up...she was wondering if that happened recently.

I know I've been guilty of misjudging a light at times (the intersections here in town used to tell pedestrians how many seconds they had to cross), but when I do I don't stop in the middle of the crossing (unless there's an island for that purpose). I wave so cars can see me and run for it. I never cross against the light, this is if the light turns when I'm in the crosswalk.

The major intersection here in town not only has north/south traffic, but also drivers coming west on the cross street are able to turn right (in the path of pedestrians crossing the north/south road) The turning vehicles never stop and very rarely even look...well, truck drivers do but that's about it.

[Kogarashi]

BYU had lots of "squirrels" too. I know I've posted here before about the guy who dragged his girlfriend out in front of oncoming traffic (which had the right of way), giving a sheepish grin to the cars he forced to stop on a green. His girlfriend, on the other hand, looked terrified.

And I just remembered another one from recently.

I was driving down a two-lane road near my husband's workplace (a science lab on campus, one among many in this particular area dubbed Science Hill), wipers and headlights going because it's rain-snowing at the moment. Bit difficult to spot pedestrians in this weather, especially since I'm keeping an eye on the road too because the area I'm coming to has street parking, making it extremely narrow for anything like our Jeep or the delivery trucks that frequent this road. In this particular area, people can't seem to park close to the curb either, meaning there are several places where one lane of cars has to stop because the oncoming lane has to veer around a crappy parking job, it's that narrow.

So I'm a few car-lengths away from where the parking starts, going slowly because of weather conditions and the approaching narrowness (plus the speed limit is 25 through most of the city anyway, probably because of the narrow streets), when I spot a pedestrian approaching the curb from the sidewalk some ways ahead. She's approaching the curb from the near side of a large dumpster that has been left there for some while by construction, occupying a street parking space. Good for me, as I can see her, but bad for oncoming traffic.

Especially since she's approaching with her gaze firmly locked on her feet, and doesn't look left or right or even slow down as she steps off the curb and out next to the dumpster. I start applying the breaks gently, because she's not slowing down, but now I'm worried because there's a delivery truck coming up the other lane and he's not going to see her.

So she steps out past the dumpster, sees the delivery truck almost on top of her, then suddenly stumbles to a halt. Then she spots me approaching (albeit slowing down enough that I would've stopped completely before I reached her), and quickly backpedals behind the dumpster again. I hope she learned from that little shock that you're supposed to look both ways before you step into the street.

[ditchdj]

Damn...this thread reminds me of the Pitt and CMU students here. They just *love* to run out ahead of traffic. Usually at night, and the vast majority of those fools seem to be wearing dark clothing at the time. Then they get hit, or *nearly* hit, and have the nerve to complain about it. Sorry, but if you're stupid enough to dart out in front of oncoming traffic--which is usually moving much faster than the 25mph speed limit--you *deserve* to get hit. That's why every intersection in that part of town stays at "all red" longer than anywhere else--to let most of those fools cross. Sad that they're in college, and can't even handle crossing the street

Yep, same with the college here where I live a block from. In fact I almost hit one of those idiots that was jogging and decided to zip right in front of me.

[Pagan]

I think the "squirrels" inhabit every college campus. I've seen the exact same behavior at NMSU and UNM. I think some of them are of the opinion that "I'm a college student and thereby that makes me a special snowflake."

I think in most cases, a "black box" type set up would be sufficient, something to measure speed, tire direction, etc. for the past 15 minutes or so.

The advantage of cameras over blackboxes is that you get to shop tailgaters, cutters, etc. It means that most people would actually *want* such a thing attached to their car. Generally it would take an insurance discount or a mandate to get people to fit a blackbox, and mandates don't generally apply to old cars.

A blackbox tells people what your car did and how the controls were manipulated; it doesn't automatically show the reasons *why*. Sometimes it's obvious, but often not. Something as simple as "was the light green when you entered the junction?" is not answered by examining the wreckage and the blackbox - presently it takes third-party witnesses - but a camera would show it.

Cameras also show when road-rage happens. Tailgating, reversing in a queue, cutting off, and simple excessive speeding are all very visible on a video recording. These are all external factors which can affect the performance of the driver, and the outcome of any unexpected hazard encounter.

Ok, guys, do you really think that Americans will put up with something like this. You know how we are. Wouldn't be too long before someone sues someone else for "violating their privacy".

[ditchdj]

Ok, guys, do you really think that Americans will put up with something like this.

Sadly, in today's day and age, YES. Absolutely.

[Broomjockey]

Right, let's not go down the Fratching path of privacy etc. folks, please?

[Pagan]

Right, let's not go down the Fratching path of privacy etc. folks, please?

Actually, I was poking at how people threaten to sue everybody for everything every 5 seconds! But, that's probably in the same area, ain't it?

[ditchdj]

Sure is! It's NOT every 5 seconds, it's 2 seconds!

[Broomjockey]

You two are simply incourrigible, aren'tcha? That's it! *rolls up sleeves*

*passes out Nanaimo bars*

What? EQ does cookies, so I can't pass those out.