Yes, I call them “Rotaries”. You got a problem with that?
Also, no disrespect intended toward the people of eastern Kentucky.
Also, in the US, you turn right and yield to traffic in the circle.
Category: Automobile
Yes, Lying about Self Driving Cars Is a Bad Thing, Elon
The NTSB has called out Elon Musk and Tesla for serial lying about their self driving capabilityes, saying that this puts the driving public at risk.
This is not a surprise.
Tesla’s culture comes from the height of the Dot Com bubble, with a, “We’ll fix it in Beta,” mentality, which is negligent at best, and potentially criminal when dealing with 4000 pound high speed death machines like automobiles:
The National Transportation Safety Board has filed comments blasting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for its permissive regulation of driver-assistance systems. The letter was dated February 1 but was only spotted by CNBC’s Lora Kolodny on Friday. The letter repeatedly calls out Tesla’s Autopilot for its lax safety practices and calls on NHTSA to establish minimum standards for the industry.
The dispute between federal agencies is the result of Congress dividing responsibility for transportation safety among multiple agencies. NHTSA is the main regulator for highway safety: every car and light truck must comply with rules established by NHTSA. NTSB is a separate agency that just does safety investigations. When there’s a high-profile highway crash, NTSB investigators travel to the scene to figure out what happened and how to prevent it from happening again. NTSB also does plane crashes and train wrecks, allowing it to apply lessons from one mode of transportation to others.
………
Under then-President Donald Trump, NHTSA largely let automakers do what they liked when it came to advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and prototype driverless vehicles. NHTSA has generally waited until safety problems cropped up with ADAS systems and dealt with them after the fact. NTSB argues NHTSA should be more proactive, and it put Tesla and Autopilot at the center of its argument.
………
The NTSB also calls for NHTSA to require driver-monitoring systems to ensure drivers are paying attention to the road while driver-assistance systems are active.
“Because driver attention is an integral component of lower-level automation systems, a driver-monitoring system must be able to assess whether and to what degree the driver is performing the role of automation supervisor,” NTSB argued. “No minimum performance standards exist for the appropriate timing of alerts, the type of alert, or the use of redundant monitoring sensors to ensure driver engagement.”
………
Finally, NTSB argues that NHTSA should require automakers to limit use of driver-assistance systems to the types of roads they’re designed for. For example, some ADAS systems are designed to only work on limited-access freeways. Yet few cars actually enforce such limitations. Many systems can be activated on roads the systems weren’t designed for.
………
The NTSB mentions Tesla 16 times in the report—far more than any other automaker. This is partly because Tesla vehicles have figured so prominently in the NTSB’s work. NTSB says it has investigated six crashes involving driver-assistance or self-driving systems between May 2016 and March 2019. Four of those were fatal. One of these four was the 2018 death of Elaine Herzberg after she was hit by an Uber self-driving prototype. The other three were Tesla owners who relied too much on Autopilot, and it cost them their lives.
………
In its report on the crash, NTSB noted that, at the time of the crash, Autopilot software was only designed for use on controlled-access freeways—not rural highways where cars and trucks can enter the highway directly from driveways and side streets. NTSB pointed out that its report on the Brown crash “recommended that NHTSA develop a method to verify” that companies selling driver-assistance systems like Autopilot have safeguards to prevent customers from using the systems on roads they aren’t designed for. Such a system might have prevented Brown from activating Autopilot on the day of his death.
………
“The NTSB remains concerned about NHTSA’s continued failure to recognize the importance of ensuring that acceptable safeguards are in place so the vehicles do not operate outside of their operational design domains and beyond the capabilities of their system designs,” the agency wrote. “Because NHTSA has put in place no requirements, manufacturers can operate and test vehicles virtually anywhere, even if the location exceeds the AV control system’s limitations.”
NTSB then called out Tesla again, specifically criticizing the decision to release its “full self-driving beta” software to a few-dozen customers.
“Tesla recently released a beta version of its Level 2 Autopilot system, described as having full self-driving capability,” NTSB wrote. “By releasing the system, Tesla is testing on public roads a highly automated AV technology but with limited oversight and reporting requirements.”
This is negligent behavior, both on the part of Tesla and on the part of the NHTSA, and it has already gotten people killed.
Panglossian Bullsh%$
I just love the techno-utopians who seem to think that your car spying on your driving habits and phoning home will create a travel paradise,
The author thinks that Tesla invading your privacy is the bee’s knees:
………
The majority of cars sold in the U.S. now have event data recorders—sometimes described as black boxes—that log data to be examined in the event of an accident.
Most of those devices don’t record as much detail as Tesla does, or send it out over the Internet. But Internet connectivity in cars is becoming more common, and carmakers are keen to make use of whatever data they can get from our vehicles.
Only about a quarter of new cars have the necessary technology today, but that’s expected to reach over 90 percent by 2020. Companies such as GM are open about their interest in expanding the range of data they collect on driver actions to open up new business opportunities.
One big motivation for car companies is to get into the insurance business. Some insurance companies already offer discounts if you install a device in your car with sensors that monitor your driving habits, and GM has partnerships with several that tap into its OnStar system. But insurance companies could have much to gain by getting more detailed data as Tesla does, so they can see not only the car’s motion but every action of the driver.
The word for this is dystopian.
Big Brother, Big Auto, whatever.
Flies in 2018. Bankruptcy in 2019
Terrafugia has announced that its flying car will take flight by 2018.There is a long history of flying cars (or roadable planes), and it never makes it to the mass market:
When will we finally pilot our own flying cars? It’s a question that’s haunted anyone who grew up watching sci-fi classics, and one American company claims they’re coming sooner than you’d think. Terrafugia is building the first-ever unmanned prototype of its TF-X flying car. They claim the vehicle will be ready for testing in 2018 and available for purchase by 2025.
The TF-X hybrid electric flying car looks mostly like a high-tech 4-seat sedan, except it’s equipped with fold-out wings that have twin electric motors on each side. These motors, powered by a 300 horsepower engine, can assume a horizontal position for flight and a vertical position for takeoff and landing. After using propellers to rise into the air (eliminating the need for any kind of runway), the vehicle would be capable of cruising at 200 mph for up to 500 miles.
There would be no need for a driver to have a pilot’s license, given that the car will be semi-autonomous. The driver can simply input the destination and allow the car to steer itself. The vehicle operator will, of course, have final say over whether the car should land in a particular area, and can abort landing at any time if the area seems unsafe.
This has been in the works for a long time, and I am sure that the most of the tech will work as promised.
After all there have been a dozen or so flying cars over the years.
They’ve just never made the leap from prototype to product.
The Car for My Midlife Crisis Has Returned
1980s Version
New Version
For some reason, the styling of the original always appealed to me, and if I were to get a car with just two seats and a tiny trunk, that would be it.
And now, it’s back:
Fiat unveiled a “new” two-seat sports car at the Los Angeles Auto Show Thursday — the reborn version of the the Fiat 124 Spider.
It marks the return of a model name that hasn’t been available in the United States since 1985.
The original Fiat 124 Spider was a small, fun-to-drive sportscar that had adoring fans, but also a reputation for mechanical troubles boiled down to the memorable joke “Fix It Again, Tony.”
That bit is not quite fair.
The 80s Spider was a simple, and, at least by the standard of 1980s vintage Fiats,* fairly reliable.
I’ve not had my midlife crisis yet, but if I do, I will get the model with manual transmission, because if you are going to have a midlife crisis, and buy a 2 seat convertible, it’s lame to use an automatic transmission.
I think that I’d get the model with the manual roof too, because ……… well ……… midlife crisis.
There are two ways to go with a midlife crisis car, super car, or something that you would have driven as a kid.
I swing the latter way.
*Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
OK, This is an Insanely Great Idea
A company called Openbay has come up with a a device that plugs into your car’s diagnostic port, reads the codes, and gets quotes from local mechanics:
Car maintenance, and the costs associated with auto care, is a pain point and often a total mystery for many car owners. It is also one of the last industries where the consumer has traditionally had no power over negotiations, especially once a car is in an auto repair shop.
This morning at the New York International Auto Show, auto repair marketplace startup Openbay unveiled a new product called OpenbayConnect to give consumers more power in the process of getting work done on their cars. The new device, which Openbay founder and chief executive Rob Infantino says can be installed by anyone, automatically connects a car’s computer system to diagnose problems and find a local repair shop to fix the issue through the company’s automated service recommendation engine.
………
OpenbayConnect further automates this process by diagnosing the problem through a car’s computer system – something I was charged about $70 for at the Subaru dealership – and making the auto repair shops vie for a customer’s business by offering the best deal. The company will be shipping the product to early adopters throughout the spring, but has been testing the device with a few unnamed partners with access to large fleets of cars for a few months now. For a limited amount of time, the OpenbayConnect devices will be free and won’t cost users any data costs or activation fees. Eventually, the company will sell the connected diagnosis components through its partners.
………
One specific target of OpenbayConnect is auto service customers who don’t know very much about their vehicles, see a check engine light go on, and immediately call a auto shop or dealer. Often, that customer will pay just to have their computer system checked. Many times, the problem could be as simple as low tire pressure or a loose gas cap. The automated OpenbayConnect system can diagnose exactly what the problem is and whether it warrants more extensive service, all without having to get mechanics involved.
Even if they just sold the device, so you could plug in and get the codes on your smart phone, this would be f%$#ing brilliant.
Buy a Truck, Because Your Penis is Too Small
Advertising, Exploiting People with Insecurity About Their Manhood for more than a Century
In the conflation of automobiles and manhood that is the American car advertisement, the latest GM ad, which doesn’t even bother making the juxtaposition between one’s choice in transportation and one’s manhood, and they pretty explicitly state it.
The video attached shows hoe they bring in a “focus group” of young women who look at pictures, and they universally find the guy in front of a truck sexier than the same guy in front of a hatchback.
First, they obviously had to find a group of women dumb enough not to think, “Hey, these are the same guys? Are you trying to imply that I am a vacuous shallow bitch?”
Seriously. Just how tiny does a potential car buyer’s penis have to be for this ad to work?
Epic
I want to know what happened when the car hit the freeway.
The World Just Got a bit Less Funny, and a Lot Less Weird
Tom Magliozzi, half of Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, died today
Tom Magliozzi, the older, taller half of Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, died today at 77 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
Tom and his brother Ray Magliozzi first broadcast their public radio call-in show Car Talk in 1977 from the studios of WBUR in Boston.
They offered advice on cars and life, but it was the duo’s sense of humor and Tom’s iconic laugh that made the show so memorable for millions of fans across the country.
NPR began distributing Car Talk nationally in 1987. More than 4 million people tuned in each week, making it one of public radio’s most successful shows ever.
I was actually was on Car Talk once, in 1997.
I asked them about the edibility of automotive fluids, which, come to think of it, may explain how my writing style developed.
Is it Just Me………
Or is the latest Cadillac Escalade ad, the one that uses David Bowie’s song Fame, the stupidest ad of the year so far?
I Wish that This Was True
In response to Georgia’s issuing a vanity plate featuring the Klu Klux Klan Confederate Battle Flag, John Perr comes up with a parody that is pure genius.
The only thing that could make this better would be if this were true:
The state of Georgia this week began offering a new version of its vehicle license plate featuring the Confederate battle flag. Sponsored by the Georgia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (to whom a portion of the purchase price and annual registration fees will go), the revised design has many people inside the state and out howling mad.
In response to the outcry, Georgia SCV commander Jack Bridwell asked, “What’s the big deal?” Echoing Bridwell’s explanation that “the design is just people trying to show who they are and trying to be proud of their heritage,” Sons of Confederate Veterans spokesman Ray McBerry invited other groups to do the same:“We believe that all people ought to be able to celebrate their history and their heritage, and that includes Southerners. We did anticipate that there could be some folks who would not like that, but we encourage them to go and make application for their own specialty plates.”
Now, a little known organization is taking him up on the offer. The group, calling itself The American People, is sponsoring a license plate to mark the 150th anniversary of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s March to the Sea.
After capturing the South’s vital manufacturing center and rail hub at Atlanta, Sherman’s troops marched southeast to Savannah leaving a swath of ruin in their wake. Between November 15th and December 21st, 1864, Sherman more than accomplished his objective to “create havoc and destruction of all resources that would be beneficial to the enemy.” Sherman’s brilliant campaign (or what the Sons of Confederate Veterans brand “atrocities and war crimes“) hastened the end of the Confederacy and with it the enslavement of four million Americans.
Read the rest, it’s brilliant, and if you know anyone in Georgia, have them petition for a vanity plate.
This is f%$3ing brilliant!
Jeebus
A whiteout and a pileup in Indiana. 3 dead, and at least 20 injured.
H/t PP at the Stellar Parthenon BBS.
Today’s Moment of Hedonism
Last week, I was rear ended on the Outer Loop, while I was stopped in traffic.
There were some minor dings on my rear bumper, and no injuries of anyone.
What it did mean was that her insurance would pay for my repairs, so it went into the shop yesterday, and they are also paying for a rental car.
It is a 2013 VW Jetta Wagon, a gas version, and it is loaded.
This morning, it was chilly, our first real brush with Autumnal weather, and so I tried out the electric seat warmers.
I really like the electric bun warmers.
I decided to call Sharon* out when I got home, and had her check out the heated seats.
She really like the electric bun warmers as well.
Not as nice as the Dalek robotic Brookstone massage chairs that I’ve tried out in the mall, but nice all the same.
Sweet car, though I would go with the 4 cylinder turbo-diesel, rather than the 5 cylinder gas engine version, and I might go with a manual transmission if I were in the market as well.
*Love of my life, light of the cosmos, she who must be obeyed, my wife.
This is the Best Car Ad Ever!
This is hysterically funny!
Kids, Don’t Try This at Home
I guess you file this under, “Why little Timmy didn’t get a Li’l Tyke fuel refinery for the holidays.”
On the was back from the Ashland Shakespeare festival, we decided to stop at Crater Lake. (It was beautiful, pix to follow)
Unfortunately, as we got to the rim of the caldera, the low fuel warning
went off.
Unfortunately, it’s HARD to find a gas station in the middle of a National Park.
We FINALLY pulled up to a gas station in Dry Creek (I’m not joking here), Oregon.
Unfortunately, their pumps were dry, and the next nearest station was 27 miles away!
The guy at the gas station, Pablo, was very apologetic, and called his sister to see if sure had a Jerry can of gasoline.
I looked around, and communed with my inner McGiver.
I saw some camping supplies, and looked to see of the had any Coleman fuel (also called white gas), which is gasoline without any additives to boost octane our detergent additives.
No such luck.
I checked the automotive section, and there were two bottles of STP, which could be used to run a cart in a pinch, as long as the engine was warm, but that was about a pint, which wasn’t enough.
While we were waiting for his sister to call back, Pablo looked in in the back shed, and found an old can of Coleman fuel about 3/4 full.
So I added the Coleman fuel, and the two cans of STP, and we managed to coast 28 into Idleyld and pick up some fuel.
One of the reasons to add the STP is that, on addition to dealing with potential contaminants in the old fuel, it’s that out had a lot of methanol in it, and so will to boost the fuel’s octane.
So we made it to the airport on time, (I would have posted it then, but this is when the plane started boarding, and then, after flying overnight, we all slept), dropped off the car, and checked in.
Crater Lake pix to follow.
Posted via mobile.
Worst Ride Pimping Ever
I don’t have everything to add, except to note that what you see IS cardboard, but enjoy the pix.
Posted via mobile.
This Week in Bad Ideas
A picture of the guy who came up with this idea
Rather unsurprisingly, this one involves automobiles, and the Italian auto industry.
You see, FIAT will be offering an in car esopresso maker on the Fiat 500:
Oh how those Italians love their espresso. And starting in October, they’ll be able to have a doppio on the go in the new Fiat 500L.
At the presentation of the car to the global press in Turin this month, Fiat announced that the 500L will be “the first standard-production car in the world to offer a true espresso coffee machine.”
The espresso maker will be an option in the new, bigger, four-door 500L that goes on sale in Italy in October and in the rest of Europe shortly after. (Think of the 500L as the Fiat 500 equivalent of the Mini Cooper Countryman — there’s even a vague similarity in silhouette.)
A coffee IV drip I could understand, but an espresso machine is insane.
Damn
For years now, after their broadcasts, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the hosts of the public-radio hit “Car Talk,” have been ranking the listener calls they receive on a scale from five to one, with five being the most entertaining.
It’s an archival system that will soon be put to use.After 35 years of weekly broadcasts and some 12,500 calls, the wisecracking brothers announced on Friday that they are retiring. “As of October, we’re not going to be recording any more new shows,” Tom, 74, wrote in a CarTalk.com column written with Ray, 63, who added, “We’ve decided that it’s time to stop and smell the cappuccino.”NPR, formerly called National Public Radio, will keep the show going by cobbling together the best of the old segments — the “fives,” so to speak. The producers think that most listeners won’t notice or care that the show is dated. Nonetheless, the announcement on Friday saddened fans of the pair, also known as Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, whose freewheeling chat show — ostensibly about cars — has been a weekend tradition for decades.
I’m bumming.
I am a Moron
I locked myself out of my car last night, and as a consequence (yes, I know correlation is not causation) I’m having some issues with muscle spasms in my back.
Nice locksmith. Got into my car in about 30 seconds, but it added to my stress level, and I’ve carried stress in my body since I was 7.
Went to the chiropractor after work today.
Damm,
My wife got a flat tire, had to drive down to the Target parking lot and put on the doughnut.
So not much posting today.