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Often times when we come to four way stops in unison, intersections, driveways, or other such vehicular crossroads, we waste time deciding with the other driver or pedestrian about who will go first.
I propose a way to help alleviate these lost moments in the form of a light array. 10 LEDs on the
hood, or perhaps lower left of the windshield.
Depending on your urgency , you could assign more or less lights to turn on, and depending on what type it is , you could make them different colours. If you just chopped your thumb off that could be a red 10 (red = medical emergency of course) or if you are just cutting it slowly today to work then you could have a blue 4 (blue being a sort of "I messed up , have some sympathy please?!) and it could even work in reverse in some cases. If you didn't really want to get to your mother in-laws birthday all that quick, you could have a yellow 8 (yellow = social SOS! Awkward situation awaits me, you go first)
Of course, this could be abused and would open some philosophical debate "Why does he think he should go first if his arm is bleeding, but I'm missing out on a big corporate shindig?!" . This is of course half the fun, and it's not as if the road can't use one more thing for motorists to get in arms against each other.
Ideally, it would bring the day to day world just a little closer to each other. It doesn't take a halfbaker to realize this is the first step to world peace.
Emotional Cars
http://edition.cnn....4/spark.clever.car/
The car reflects the driver's feelings [mylodon, Dec 10 2007]
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Annotation:
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So, what you're saying is that after you had just chopped your finger off, you're riding on your bike and, at your arrival into an intersection, the order of action is: 1. stop and read traffic signs; 2. look for the emergency indicator (if any) for all the other traffic participants; 3. for every emergency indicator, compare emergencies. 4. After waiting for the ones with higher emergencies to clear the intersection, you continue your journey. If you go to all the trouble doing that, why not also shake hands? |
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Do you live in some land without road rules, or have you forgotten them? [-] |
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[Bunsen], just what I was thinking. There are clear rules for all junction types I've ever encountered. |
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What you do on the road isn't entirely dictated by rules, at least not where I've been. You work within the rules ideally, but that doesn't take the human element of choice out. |
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//that doesn't take the human element of choice out// Quite right. You have a choice between following the rules and introducing your skull to a baseball bat. Your choice. |
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very dangorus bad idea you are always more important than the next guy |
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Wow. What a pack of sheep. I'm going to have to give Night a bun even though I don't think it's a good idea. |
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There is a semi-baked version of this. Some Japanese companies, I assume Honda, have made concept vehicles that show 'intention' and emotion as a layer on top of typical indicating. |
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Ah, I have a link. And yes, I do break road rules whenever I feel inclined. |
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Ooooh! myolodon, aren't you the very epitome of the scary road warrior? Either that, or dumb. |
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Isn't this in the help file? |
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LED's + Automobile exterior = Shart |
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Nope. I ride a motorcycle. And as you'll often find on a motorcycle, the long turn (right in former British Empire, left in continental and US empire) at intersections often will only give a green light if you provide the correct amount of impedance to some kind of metal detector under the ground. Even if I roll the bike back and forth over the detector it won't pick it up. |
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Often this means I either have to wait for a car to pull up behind me, or break out of my lane illegally and go straight (and then find another way to get where I want to go), or take the left (or right) turn illegally. Some times there's not a lot of traffic, and to be legal I may have to wait for an hour. No thanks. |
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This would be an ideal situation for an urgency indicator. |
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Additionally, this would also help in countries with complex 'give way' rules. Some extra-ordinarily passive defensive drivers will interpret all 'give way' rules a kilometer in all directions, and will pause in sheep like confusion until any more active driver passes them by; and yet due to distance and speed, they could have easily taken the turn without the slightest risk of collision. To give people like this more confidence, an indicator that shows, 'gosh, i'd desperately like to turn left, if only i had the courage, because i really need to go to the hospital' would speed up flow at intersections. |
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Although there is always the abuse of such indicators. Most likely passive drivers would always indicate with the least strength, defeating the purpose. 'No, you go ahead first' 'No, you, please!' |
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[Mylo] Exactly. The public "niceness" is what causes much time to be lost. As a pedestrian I've almost been hit by cars due to our collective inability to make a decision. |
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I know that my traffic laws say that at a four-way stop the vehicle stopping first has the right of way, in the event of a tie, the vehicle on the right goes first. But the other 3 jackasses at the same intersection with me don't remember that. So [+] for the extra communication. |
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This idea bothers me. If you have a problem with 4-ways, go back to traffic school. There are SO many cons associated with this idea. . . |
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If this happens to me, I just flash my brights. That gets to message across, "GO!". Works everytime. |
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This idea wouldn't even work duringthe daylight, when you can actually see the other drivers face. You can't see LEDs that well during the day, and if you can see the other persons FACE why would you need them to switch on LEDs? |
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You could always use flags that lift up from the roof of your car, and communicate in semafore. |
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It's a lost art, and it would make driving much more festive. |
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This type of system would be useful in places like Palau [Location: Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines (slightly more than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC)]. |
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Palau does not have traffic lights, well there are 2 on the entire island but it only flashes a yellow light. |
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Only 2 rules govern their traffic safety: 1) The maximum speed limit is 25 miles per hour, but slower in congested areas. 2) Passing of slow-moving vehicles is prohibited. |
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Everyone in Michigan would drive with it maxed out all the time. Which is rather odd, considering turn signals here seem to be optional. |
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Speaking about eye contact. When in Australia, as a
pedestrian I made eye contact with an old woman driving
a nice small car who had stopped, coming out of a mall's
underground parking lot. She seemed to have nodded to
me, so I understood that as a "go" for crossing the road. |
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As I began moving my foot and shifting my weight, I saw
with horror that she picked up a newspaper holding it
completely ahead of her and across the front window and
began driving. |
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I then realized that she was the passenger, and that the
driver sits on the other side... |
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