Re: [LUG] Fwd: Microsoft scam man is sentenced

[Simon Avery <digdilem@xxxxxxxxx>]

It would also be nice if the much vaunted self-driving cars stopped people speeding [which really must be trivial] and also stopped drink driving for good [maybe a little harder].

I think these are an excellent use of technology and will help a lot of people who really dislike driving but do it out of necessity. The next few years will pose some interesting questions of the law, insurance and social expectations. As in - if the car is driving, why can't you be drunk in it? Why can't you send your kids to school in the car while you go to work? Why can't I, as a walker who doesn't like retracing my steps, send my car on a few miles ahead and park itself, then tell me where it is? (Actually, Volvo are working on this already)

On the speeding issue: The problem is a social one, not a technical one (*). The driving public are cynical of many speed limits which are seen as political rather than safety motivated. There has been a step-down on this recently with fewer enforcement cameras but it's another one of those complicated questions where "But what about the children!" is used to great effect by parents and listened to by councillors keen for re-election to add inappropriate limits, humps and other traffic calming measures, based mostly on fear and assumption rather than education and statistical evidence.

The biggest problem to children around schools is, as far as I can see, the parents themselves parking badly.

* (Although, on checking my gpx files from my satnav after a trip to cornwall today, I am amused to see it claims I drove at 762mph past Exeter on the A30. Not bad for a diesel estate. Clearly some algorithms are better than others... )

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