Traffic Rant Gonna get them cell phone drivers!!!

[vraiblonde]

Elon Musk may be the only one with the right idea: just take away the steering wheel.

Regressive evolution says that the more you dumb something down, the dumber people get. That's an observable phenomenon, and we have all seen it in some form.

I'm about forcing progressive evolution by rewarding positive traits and punishing negative ones, not turning people into unthinking bots who wander around oblivious because everything is done for them.

 

[glhs837]

Guy in I think FL actually rigged up a jammer and was using it on his commute for a while. Til the FCC got his azz. I think it was an 80K fine

 

[stgislander]

Unlikely. First, how do they know if it's the driver or passenger. Second, and more important, it's illegal to "jam" (physically intefere with the radio) cell phones as this would interfere with the ability to make emergency phonecalls (this is a law, but i'm too lazy to look it up).

Just imagine the lawsuit that would follow the first time the new iJam and blocks a young mother trying to dial 911 while attempting to escape from her abusive husband who is trying to run her and their kids off the road.

Unless you don't actually mean jamming, and rather just an App that selectively disables all but emergency services.

I used jamming for lack of a better term. It all comes down to how serious the problem is perceived to be. If it is big, well then legislators gonna legislate (and keep legislating). Make it so cell phones don't work in moving vehicles and force everyone to use a service like OnStar.

As a civil libertarian I hate the idea, but people seem to love being kept safe by the govt.

 

[GWguy]

Regressive evolution says that the more you dumb something down, the dumber people get. That's an observable phenomenon, and we have all seen it in some form.

"It's got Electrolytes!"

 

[David]

One day there will be technology installed in vehicles so when in motion, a cell phone jammer is energized and no incoming or outgoing calls or texts.

Don't know about that one, the cell phone industry is flush with cash and has a powerful lobby.

 

[Goldenhawk]

Guy in I think FL actually rigged up a jammer and was using it on his commute for a while. Til the FCC got his azz. I think it was an 80K fine

"Jammer" as in cell phone jammer. Just wait until we all have autonomous vehicles and someone fires up a GPS jammer. THAT will be ugly.

 

[Clem72]

"Jammer" as in cell phone jammer. Just wait until we all have autonomous vehicles and someone fires up a GPS jammer. THAT will be ugly.

Pretty sure they will continue to rely on their Cameras, LIDAR, SONAR, RADAR and pseudo-INU as they do now. The vehicles broadly navigate using GPS, but they "drive" using the other sensors. Jamming GPS wouldn't cause accidents, the worst case scenario would be if jammed for a signifant length of time and the confidence level in their internal mapping drops (maybe a road hazard or construction doesn't match mapping database) then it would likely pull over or notify driver of issues and ask for manual instructions.

 

[BernieP]

Pretty sure they will continue to rely on their Cameras, LIDAR, SONAR, RADAR and pseudo-INU as they do now. The vehicles broadly navigate using GPS, but they "drive" using the other sensors. Jamming GPS wouldn't cause accidents, the worst case scenario would be if jammed for a signifant length of time and the confidence level in their internal mapping drops (maybe a road hazard or construction doesn't match mapping database) then it would likely pull over or notify driver of issues and ask for manual instructions.

Correct, commercial GPS signal alone is not that accurate. If you were to compare the GPS to a geo rectified image people would be surprised how far off their position was. Navigation systems using just GPS snap yoour position to the road and use inertial sensors to track motion along a defiend path (the embedded map).
Cell phones use a combination of GPS and triangulation off cell towers, along with the internal sensors. If you remove the cell network, Google / Apple and whatever navigation on your cell phone is dead or at the best, not very accurate. Plus you don't get traffic alerts (WAZES)