Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition
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Oh, right.
I do agree - I would imagine that more often than not it probably is, but don't believe it is always.
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I knew it was British, I was just wondering about the etymology, because I assumed you might know.
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It's British and we learn mainly from British materials here in Europe. And I only ever heard it to mean the 3.5-6t category I meant while "truck" may be used about anything from pick-up to the 18-wheeler.
In Britain, truck and lorry are pretty much synonymous.
If people wish to distinguish then we use LGV for under 3.5t and HGV for over which does, admittedly, clash with the EU standard of LCV vs LGV respectively.
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[REDACTED as being a bit too mean to @frostcat]
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What about the case where you're already going slow, eh? I once lost control--on ice, actually, not in water--on a turn where I had already slowed down well below the normal speed, and wound up hitting a tree in the median.
As with all things, I don't think there can ever be an absolute black/white. Obviously, if you're going a reasonable (uh oh, there's that word...) speed for conditions and still end up hydroplaning, I don't think you can be held to the same level of accountability as if you were speeding. Some accidents are accidents. Speeding is not accidental.
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FrostCat:
What about the case where you're already going slow, eh? I once lost control--on ice, actually, not in water--on a turn where I had already slowed down well below the normal speed, and wound up hitting a tree in the median.As with all things, I don't think there can ever be an absolute black/white. Obviously, if you're going a reasonable (uh oh, there's that word...) speed for conditions and still end up hydroplaning, I don't think you can be held to the same level of accountability as if you were speeding. Some accidents are accidents. Speeding is not accidental.
I find it particularly... um, Fun?,... when you get to pick between going at a speed that keeps traffic around you reasonably happy, and going at a safe speed.
Three+ seasons of the year - left lanes here I come.
Snow - I got no idea what you people are going to try next - the right lane is my friend.
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that's Karma for you.
Well now, I hope nobody you love ever dies in a car accident from hydroplaning when they weren't driving recklessly.
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Obviously, if you're going a reasonable (uh oh, there's that word...) speed for conditions and still end up hydroplaning
Gee, I'm glad you allowed that qualifier, like you didn't at first.
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:effort:
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I find it particularly... um, Fun?,... when you get to pick between going at a speed that keeps traffic around you reasonably happy, and going at a safe speed.
pick the safe speed and belgium traffic being happy. they can pass you if they think you're going too slow.
Snow - I got no idea what you people are going to try next - the right lane is my friend.
i'm more likely to say "and i think i'm WFH today" or "welp, time to avoid 295. i'm taking the veterans bridge to work instead"
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Well now, I hope nobody you love ever dies in a car accident from hydroplaning when they weren't driving recklessly.
ok, this is an important issue for you. got it.
still that was a little uncalled for, wasn't it?
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Well now, I hope nobody you love ever dies in a car accident from hydroplaning when they weren't driving recklessly.
I wanted to like this, but a like seems inappropriate, so have an agreement?
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still that was a little uncalled for, wasn't it?
No more than assuming everyone who hydroplanes is reckless.
I lived in New England for 30 years. I grew up driving in bad weather, and not just what coastal Maine sees. I know how to drive well in ice and snow but even then I've still managed to slide on ice while going plenty slowly. I've even described it here before.
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I wanted to like this, but a like seems inappropriate, so have an agreement?
I actually mean it. I hope nobody she knows--or dcon, or anyone else here--has to go through that kind of thing.
I mean, imagine what it would be like to have someone say "oh, it's probably your own fault you killed your wife" or "the kids in the other car" or something.
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I actually mean it.
Yeah - I figured what you meant, hence me agreeing and why a like wasn't the right response.
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This post is deleted!
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pick the safe speed and ■■■■■■■ traffic being happy. they can pass you if they think you're going too slow.
Nope. I can look around and figure out if I'm part of the problem or part of the solution.
If a little extra hurry on my part calms things down around me, that's better for all concerned, and I'll do it.
Note, "little extra" - I'm not flooring it just to accommodate the Belgians.
Dear Santa @Boomzilla can I have one of those bright red Rubik's cubes under my tree this year ;)
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This post is deleted!
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Rung too close to home, and not seemingly just for me, so decided against the original post.
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Rung too close to home, and not seemingly just for me, so decided against the original post.
you are wiser than I. I should have figured that out before i saw your post and it's deletion (live updates FTW)
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Dear Santa @Boomzilla can I have one of those bright red Rubik's cubes under my tree this year
How about some history?
http://tpc.pc2.netdna-cdn.com/images/Battle_of_Tours_CHarles_Martel.jpg
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> Okay Google. what is the etymology of the word lorry?
First result: Online Etymology Dictionary — bookmarked!
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Speeding is not accidental
I see some people are still hung up on the idea that driving 49 in a 45 has any meaning whatsoever. The guy who set the speed at 45 did it for a whole list of reasons and even under the best of circumstances it's a wild ass generalization that has only a tenuous link to road safety. Driving too fast is a bad thing. Speeding (defined as going over the posted speed limit) is a bureaucratic violation.
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Imagine the expense!
Nothing is expensive when you socialize the cost. By the way, most new cars now have GPS and OnStar (or equivalent), so we're already halfway there. Besides, Big Insurance can't wait for this shit to become mandatory.
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Big Insurance can't wait for this shit to become mandatory.
Indeed, Big Brother^W^WProgressive Insurance is already offering a discount if you plug something into your OBD-II port and let them...presumably, see if you ever speed.
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Indeed, Big Brother^W^WProgressive Insurance is already offering a discount if you plug something into your OBD-II port and let them...presumably, see if you ever speed.
They don't check if you speed. Insurance companies are too money focused to fall for the whole going over the speed limit will cause accidents thing. They look for hard braking, hard acceleration, abrupt turns, and total miles driven. If the data shows that you drive 5 miles of constant speed highway driving every day and nothing unexpected ever happens - you'll get their lowest rate no matter how fast you drive.
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Of course, what they (Progressive, specifically, that is) don't say is that they're wildly overpriced anyway, so "their lowest rate" is probably only moderately overpriced.
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That's irrelevant. If all the things you seem to be implying are true, they would have an awful strange business model. The list of factors at play here: Progressive is overpriced, they give discounts to drivers that don't brake hard and drive less, they know that speeding will effect their bottom line, but don't charge extra for it because they already built in a buffer.
Isn't it more likely that they simply are giving to discounts to people that they know will cost them less, regardless of their total profit margin? Why chase away the theoretically more profitable customers (that drive under the speed limit, but go further) and encourage the theoretically non-profitable ones (that drive fast, but not all that often) to stay?
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Of course, what they (Progressive, specifically, that is) don't say is that they're wildly overpriced anyway, so "their lowest rate" is probably only moderately overpriced.
The funny thing is, that wasn't always the case. I signed up for Progressive back in the late 90's. They were quite a bit cheaper than what I was paying at the time. Then they raised my rate every year for over 10 years. I'm with GEICO now, and to tell you the truth, they're not that much better. Do you have any recommendations?
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Do you have any recommendations?
Nope--I'm using them myself right now, but I'm going to switch at some point, when I get around to doing some research.
My boss sold his house a year or two ago and bought a new one. Something about it caused a small, temporary hit to his credit score, and that happened right when his car insurance was due to be renewed--he used Progressive then--and they quoted him a huge increase, something like 30-40%.
I've heard some people say that if you switch every few years, you can get a big discount. The idea is, you would now go back to Geico, and when it gets too expensive, go to someone else, and so on. I don't know if that actually works, though.
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Progressive Insurance is already offering a discount if you plug something into your OBD-II port and let them...presumably, see if you ever speed.
They can't tell if you speed. The device has no GPS capabilities. It only reports speed, time of day, accelleration, and braking characteristics. They judge the associated discount based on:
- When do you usually drive
- How fast do you usually drive compared the other people near where you live.
- How often do you hard brake. They define a hard brake as decreasing in speed by at least 7 MPH/s.
On top of that, the device only remains attached to your car's port for 30-60 days. The resulting discount is kept for the life of your policy. Though you may have to repeat the process if you move.
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Of course, what they (Progressive, specifically, that is) don't say is that they're wildly overpriced anyway, so "their lowest rate" is probably only moderately overpriced.
Then explain to me why they give me rates 20% lower then the next best option for a comparable policy.
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Then explain to me why they give me rates 20% lower then the next best option for a comparable policy.
I don't have an explanation. You can see my other post about what I said about my boss.
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i've found that having a family member as an insurance agent and getting isurance through them is a great way to get the best possile coverage/premium.
my premium is ~75% of the next lowest quote i can find online for any carrier (and that includes the one i'm with now) for the same level of coverage.
of course not everyone is going to be able to use that trick, but it is worth it if you can.
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Indeed, Big Brother^W^WProgressive Insurance is already offering a discount if you plug something into your OBD-II port and let them...presumably, see if you ever speed.
State Farm does this, too. I looked into it a while back, and you would get a minimum of 5% discount, but the maximum was something like 25% (the numbers could be totally wrong) depending on how you drive. I think they were more interested in aggressive lane changed and stopping distances. I never got into it, but it makes sense.
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Do you have any recommendations?
I've been with State Farm forever. We've occasionally looked at other companies, but when we tell them what we pay, they hang up on us. The only stuff I've heard that could be better is USAA, but we're not eligible.
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They can't tell if you speed. The device has no GPS capabilities.
I don't want to imply that they're doing this, because I doubt it... but there was an interesting article that hit /. a while back that used just the data collected by accelerometers along with knowledge of where someone lived to accurately reconstruct what route they drove. The data sensed by those insurance boxes isn't as anonymouse as you might think.
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18-wheelers
Have you ever counted how many wheels they have? Not many have exactly 18.
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It might work ok in some areas. But in other places, it becomes more difficult . 90% of the main surface streets in the Phoenix metro area have a speed limit of 40-50 MPH. And 95% of the time the are spaced about 1 mile apart. So you might be able to determine when they stopped, guess when they turned, and so on. But you wouldn't have much to go off for determining which way they turned. And every turn taken would increase your chance of error.
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I don't want to imply that they're doing this, because I doubt it... but there was an interesting article that hit /. a while back that used just the data collected by accelerometers along with knowledge of where someone lived to accurately reconstruct what route they drove. The data sensed by those insurance boxes isn't as anonymouse as you might think.
So you're suggesting that maybe, just maybe, the insurance companies are telling you that they don't record speed, going out of their way to not put GPS into the boxes so that it's technically more difficult to determine speed, and then doing inertial navigation to figure out speed and using it anyways?Wouldn't it be simpler to just tell their customers they track speed? I can't see any reason for the insurance companies to be all clandestine about it. The devices friggin' beep when you do something that the insurance companies don't like - there is absolutely zero attempt to be non-transparent.
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If it's plugged in to the OBDII port it has speed available direct from the ECU, no GPS or inertial navigation required.
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If it's plugged in to the OBDII port it has speed available direct from the ECU, no GPS or inertial navigation required.
Required for what? An uniformed decision? Knowing how fast you are going is only half the problem - you need to know where you are in order to look up the speed limit.Even if that wasn't a problem, do you really think they would bother to specifically say they don't track your speed and then go and do it. How about the whole "the device beeps when you are outside the bounds so you can improve your driving" thing? Do you think they hate speeders so much that rather than try to encourage them to slow down they will simply judge them in silence and deny a rate reduction?
This is some real tinfoil hat shit here.
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going out of their way to not put GPS into the boxes so that it's technically more difficult to determine speed
Required for what
To determine speed. That's all I was commenting on. I don't know what the devices are but I do know a little about OBDII.
I doubt the insurance companies would be clandestine about anything, they tell you up front what they won't cover you for because if they don't then they have to cover you.
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Drove I-10 from Baton Rouge, LA to Texas; my first time in this part of the country.
What the hell is with the drivers here that will catch up to you and ride your ass for miles even if in moderately light traffic when the left lane is perfectly clear?
This happens occasionally to me driving on I-80 through Indiana/Ohio, but the density of those "drivers" here seemed enormously higher...
