Shame.
In the age of high technology, it is truly shameful why traffic accidents cannot be brought down to zero.
If one were to be an alien being just arriving earth from outer space (like those in Star Trek), one would be shocked to learn of the number of traffic accidents each year upon learning that earth is NOT a primitive race void of meaningful technology, nor run by cave men.
What if there is a simple system (with infrastructure already existing) to bring traffic accidents down to zero?
And it does not even involve any expensive technology or driverless driving (which will have a tough time being successful -as AI technology to predict human behaviors will remain difficult to achieve zero error standard- unless lanes are segregated strictly for driverless cars from other cars).
Rewarding responsible driver behaviors through Significant rewards such as EZ Pass credits may just be the easiest, quickest way.
The goal obviously is to make everyone regulate themselves at ALL TIMES so that accidents will become zero.
Sound more like a pipe dream- since not everyone irresponsible will be lured by rewards?
Lets analyze.
Most of the accidents happened due to one of the 3 key Behaviors:
speeding, unexpected changes, unexpected Acceleration.
Even if the accidents were under the influence of drugs, alcohol, sleep depravity, maniac behaviors/temperament (character flaw), they all fall under either one of these 3 categories.
1. Speeding - this one everyone knows, one should never speed at any times. But one cant prevent others from speeding.
This one is easy to catch and solve -with very heavy enough punishment to make sure offenders never do it again or banish them from the roads eternally. It is still often to see racers racing each other on the BQE in nyc after midnight, simply for fun, totally ignoring others safety- these drivers must be eradicated by all means.
2.Unexpected Changes - which cause Surprises- this is probably the most common cause of accidents (speeding or non-speeding) among all drivers as one changes mind last second, causing surprises hence accidents. A most common scenario is day dreaming or in deep thoughts and then wake up suddenly and do these last second changes, and in a stubborn manner. The proper measure is to have the strongest discipline in NEVER making these last second changes- if u missed a turn, or exit, so be it. One must overcome these dangerous stubborn behaviors which endanger oneself and others. Examples are last second lane change, exits or turns - one should always give ample warning time ahead of time.The well behaved population cannot control these drivers from doing these unexpected changes except being ultra alert ourselves so to adjust to their actions.
A few measures DOT can undertake to minimize this common issue of Unexpected Changes happens to be on the highway.
The most accident prone part of the highway should be the the entry and exit areas.
If one would design the highway infrastructure from scratch, the proper and safest way is to design a longer, designated lane for entry- that way all entries are visible and smoothed into the main traffic, with no surprises. A lot of entries currently have a short lane before entering into the main traffic flow, which could cause a lot of surprises.
Also there should be be Signs warning the drivers about incoming entries- telling them to look out for new entrants-at every entry point, so to eliminate surprises.
One other way to prevent accidents based on Unexpected Changes is to have straighter roads and fewer lanes, even on wide highways.
Most of our highway infrastructure was built zeon years ago and to rebuild it will be costly.
Curvier roads have more accidents due to heavier blind spot problem during cars switching lanes, and also more jams as cars have to slow down, especially on entries and exits. Multiple lanes create jams as it promotes constant unnecessary switching of lanes. Eliminating unnecessary lanes into just 2 lanes minimize both jams and accidents. This also minimizes the problem of speeding, as it is the lane changes that cause the accidents.
Most accidents are caused by Unexpected Change, and switching of Lanes is prime suspect.
If one would eliminate or minimize switching of lanes (UNLESS one really have to) we will have so much less accidents each year.
We have nyc DOT experimenting with straighter roads and eliminating unnecessary lanes on the highway through the use of artificial roadblocks with plastic blockades and cones - their efforts are to be lauded, as the results are obvious and effective.
3. Unexpected Acceleration or unexpected Significant Speed changes - what is significant acceleration? Whether it is 20 to 40 mph hastily on a local street, or 60-80 mph on the highway, whatever creates Unexpected Surprises on other drivers is considered dangerous, thus Significant. This creates surprises on others and raise the odds of accidents. The easiest eg is one making a lane change to the left thinking that one has enough time not knowing that the car on the left suddenly increase its speed from 20 to 40 mph within 2 seconds.
This reckless Behavior also compounds the Blind Spot problem,
If one must increase or reduce speed, one should do it GRADUALLY - and never in an Accelerated rapid manner.
If one would to eliminate the above 3 Behaviors, there will never be accidents ( excluding cases of driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol, sleep depravity, maniac behaviors).
Thus the goal of zero Accidents.
To eliminate all the above 3 behaviors requires the strongest of Discipline instilled in EVERY driver.
So would a self policing Reward system help?
Surely, the physical EZ pass tag we stick onto our car is not well utilized or optimized to the fullest advantage.
What if this tag can become as powerful as a navigation machine, revealing speed and speed changes, alerting us of unexpected changes like turns and lane changes, reminding us on when to turn or change lanes, on a real time basis with live road maps? And rewards diligent drivers with meaningful, SIGNIFICANT credits (half price bridge and tunnel fees)?
Understanding how the reward program works also help create Awareness of the 3 Behaviors- not being Aware is sometimes the biggest reason of semi-consciously or unconsciously committing a wrong.
Perfect responsible drivers with perfect score should be heavily advertised, so that the irresponsible ones will learn that Perfection is easily feasible, not remote, and that 100% Discipline is possible if given effort.
Car Insurers seems to be ahead of all this and already offers a navigation tracking device that allows the drivers the option to implement the device in their car, so to determine their level of diligence and possibly lower their insurance cost if they pass certain levels of the test. Hence, the technology is already existing to implement this.
All the above can be programmed and easily carried out NOW. So what are we waiting for?
For more articles, our "Article Index" is at bottom of this link :
https://iduidu.blogspot.com/2018/12/timeline-history-and-whats-new-at-end.html
In the age of high technology, it is truly shameful why traffic accidents cannot be brought down to zero.
If one were to be an alien being just arriving earth from outer space (like those in Star Trek), one would be shocked to learn of the number of traffic accidents each year upon learning that earth is NOT a primitive race void of meaningful technology, nor run by cave men.
What if there is a simple system (with infrastructure already existing) to bring traffic accidents down to zero?
And it does not even involve any expensive technology or driverless driving (which will have a tough time being successful -as AI technology to predict human behaviors will remain difficult to achieve zero error standard- unless lanes are segregated strictly for driverless cars from other cars).
Rewarding responsible driver behaviors through Significant rewards such as EZ Pass credits may just be the easiest, quickest way.
The goal obviously is to make everyone regulate themselves at ALL TIMES so that accidents will become zero.
Sound more like a pipe dream- since not everyone irresponsible will be lured by rewards?
Lets analyze.
Most of the accidents happened due to one of the 3 key Behaviors:
speeding, unexpected changes, unexpected Acceleration.
Even if the accidents were under the influence of drugs, alcohol, sleep depravity, maniac behaviors/temperament (character flaw), they all fall under either one of these 3 categories.
1. Speeding - this one everyone knows, one should never speed at any times. But one cant prevent others from speeding.
This one is easy to catch and solve -with very heavy enough punishment to make sure offenders never do it again or banish them from the roads eternally. It is still often to see racers racing each other on the BQE in nyc after midnight, simply for fun, totally ignoring others safety- these drivers must be eradicated by all means.
2.Unexpected Changes - which cause Surprises- this is probably the most common cause of accidents (speeding or non-speeding) among all drivers as one changes mind last second, causing surprises hence accidents. A most common scenario is day dreaming or in deep thoughts and then wake up suddenly and do these last second changes, and in a stubborn manner. The proper measure is to have the strongest discipline in NEVER making these last second changes- if u missed a turn, or exit, so be it. One must overcome these dangerous stubborn behaviors which endanger oneself and others. Examples are last second lane change, exits or turns - one should always give ample warning time ahead of time.The well behaved population cannot control these drivers from doing these unexpected changes except being ultra alert ourselves so to adjust to their actions.
A few measures DOT can undertake to minimize this common issue of Unexpected Changes happens to be on the highway.
The most accident prone part of the highway should be the the entry and exit areas.
If one would design the highway infrastructure from scratch, the proper and safest way is to design a longer, designated lane for entry- that way all entries are visible and smoothed into the main traffic, with no surprises. A lot of entries currently have a short lane before entering into the main traffic flow, which could cause a lot of surprises.
Also there should be be Signs warning the drivers about incoming entries- telling them to look out for new entrants-at every entry point, so to eliminate surprises.
Highway exits also pose significant risks as drivers change minds in last second to exit.
Right lanes should be reserved only for exits or strictly for exits a quarter mile before the actual exit.There should be a cutoff point (maybe using plastic blockades to structure the cutoff point) for switching lanes. Heavy fines should be imposed on violations- this will eliminate those stubborn last second drivers.
This issue is so critical in another common instance- such as drivers crowding to exit in last seconds, causing highway traffic to stall and jam. This jam problem is especially acute when the highway is not built straight but curvy- causing traffic to slow tremendously at these exits. The Ideal Solution to this jam problem is if we could somehow magically make the exiting drivers change to the exit lane at different times, one after the other, at fixed uniform intervals along the the distance of the 2 exits- this scientific method, though not feasible, will eliminate the "jam at exit" problem. However, a feasible solution that could be implemented now will be alerting the exiting drivers to make the switch to the exiting lane as EARLY as possible- to encourage this behavior till it becomes Habit. However, most drivers have a habit of daydreaming until they must exit before switching to the exit lane in the last seconds. If somehow there is a EZ Reward system with Significant rewards to eliminate bad habits and encourage those preemptive habits........hmmm.
Right lanes should be reserved only for exits or strictly for exits a quarter mile before the actual exit.There should be a cutoff point (maybe using plastic blockades to structure the cutoff point) for switching lanes. Heavy fines should be imposed on violations- this will eliminate those stubborn last second drivers.
This issue is so critical in another common instance- such as drivers crowding to exit in last seconds, causing highway traffic to stall and jam. This jam problem is especially acute when the highway is not built straight but curvy- causing traffic to slow tremendously at these exits. The Ideal Solution to this jam problem is if we could somehow magically make the exiting drivers change to the exit lane at different times, one after the other, at fixed uniform intervals along the the distance of the 2 exits- this scientific method, though not feasible, will eliminate the "jam at exit" problem. However, a feasible solution that could be implemented now will be alerting the exiting drivers to make the switch to the exiting lane as EARLY as possible- to encourage this behavior till it becomes Habit. However, most drivers have a habit of daydreaming until they must exit before switching to the exit lane in the last seconds. If somehow there is a EZ Reward system with Significant rewards to eliminate bad habits and encourage those preemptive habits........hmmm.
One other way to prevent accidents based on Unexpected Changes is to have straighter roads and fewer lanes, even on wide highways.
Most of our highway infrastructure was built zeon years ago and to rebuild it will be costly.
Curvier roads have more accidents due to heavier blind spot problem during cars switching lanes, and also more jams as cars have to slow down, especially on entries and exits. Multiple lanes create jams as it promotes constant unnecessary switching of lanes. Eliminating unnecessary lanes into just 2 lanes minimize both jams and accidents. This also minimizes the problem of speeding, as it is the lane changes that cause the accidents.
Most accidents are caused by Unexpected Change, and switching of Lanes is prime suspect.
If one would eliminate or minimize switching of lanes (UNLESS one really have to) we will have so much less accidents each year.
We have nyc DOT experimenting with straighter roads and eliminating unnecessary lanes on the highway through the use of artificial roadblocks with plastic blockades and cones - their efforts are to be lauded, as the results are obvious and effective.
3. Unexpected Acceleration or unexpected Significant Speed changes - what is significant acceleration? Whether it is 20 to 40 mph hastily on a local street, or 60-80 mph on the highway, whatever creates Unexpected Surprises on other drivers is considered dangerous, thus Significant. This creates surprises on others and raise the odds of accidents. The easiest eg is one making a lane change to the left thinking that one has enough time not knowing that the car on the left suddenly increase its speed from 20 to 40 mph within 2 seconds.
This reckless Behavior also compounds the Blind Spot problem,
If one must increase or reduce speed, one should do it GRADUALLY - and never in an Accelerated rapid manner.
If one would to eliminate the above 3 Behaviors, there will never be accidents ( excluding cases of driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol, sleep depravity, maniac behaviors).
Thus the goal of zero Accidents.
To eliminate all the above 3 behaviors requires the strongest of Discipline instilled in EVERY driver.
So would a self policing Reward system help?
Surely, the physical EZ pass tag we stick onto our car is not well utilized or optimized to the fullest advantage.
What if this tag can become as powerful as a navigation machine, revealing speed and speed changes, alerting us of unexpected changes like turns and lane changes, reminding us on when to turn or change lanes, on a real time basis with live road maps? And rewards diligent drivers with meaningful, SIGNIFICANT credits (half price bridge and tunnel fees)?
Understanding how the reward program works also help create Awareness of the 3 Behaviors- not being Aware is sometimes the biggest reason of semi-consciously or unconsciously committing a wrong.
Perfect responsible drivers with perfect score should be heavily advertised, so that the irresponsible ones will learn that Perfection is easily feasible, not remote, and that 100% Discipline is possible if given effort.
Car Insurers seems to be ahead of all this and already offers a navigation tracking device that allows the drivers the option to implement the device in their car, so to determine their level of diligence and possibly lower their insurance cost if they pass certain levels of the test. Hence, the technology is already existing to implement this.
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For more articles, our "Article Index" is at bottom of this link :
https://iduidu.blogspot.com/2018/12/timeline-history-and-whats-new-at-end.html
