For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By Flyin'Dutch'
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1653705
Nobody is suggesting that cars can, should or must be retrofitted to remain on the road.

The average lifetime of modern cars is such that within 20 years there will be vanishingly few non-autonomous cars on the roads after autonomous ones become common place.

The only issue I might see arising for non-autonomous cars is that insurance premiums for them will rise and that they will be priced out of the marked that way.

That is not going to happen overnight though.
#1653707
Flyin'Dutch' wrote:
The average lifetime of modern cars is such that within 20 years there will be vanishingly few non-autonomous cars on the roads after autonomous ones become common place.


Damn! That means the Jaguar only has five years left.

Rob P
#1653713
Flyin'Dutch' wrote:Nobody is suggesting that cars can, should or must be retrofitted to remain on the road.

The average lifetime of modern cars is such that within 20 years there will be vanishingly few non-autonomous cars on the roads after autonomous ones become common place.

The only issue I might see arising for non-autonomous cars is that insurance premiums for them will rise and that they will be priced out of the marked that way.

That is not going to happen overnight though.


I actually believe the opposite may happen and more people will tend to keep older cars on the road due to not wanting to be moved around in a driverless vehicle.

It could make an interesting poll.
#1654467
Leodisflyer wrote:...I’ve had problems with people passing me at high speeds in 20 zones. ...


Often on bicycles thinking cars going too slow due to "congestion" rather than doing a 20 mph speed limit. Then they annoy the car drivers in the 30 mph limit because they wont use the cycle lane painted on the path resulting in a rolling road block increasing congestion, pollution, tailgating and some risky overtakes.

Perhaps we need the police to give them a friendly word to use the cycle lane provided, and if that does not work a friendly nudge into the cycle lane for environmental and road safety reasons.
Lockhaven liked this
#1654472
riverrock wrote:Apparently there is a policy in Glasgow to make all residential areas 20mph with appropriate traffic calming measures. The roads budget has been being spent on implementing these instead of filling pot holes. Unfortunately there are no stats on number of car suspension failures which would likely follow that trend.


What a waste of money and resources by that council - they will only have to remove the traffic calming measures to save energy once the driverless cars take over.

There is one county in England where some councils are putting in traffic calming and other councils are removing traffic calming in 20 mph zones.

The latter one flows much better even at 20mph and it is not wrecking suspension.

One council resurfaced the whole road in the 20 mph zone and filled it in to the level of the huge speed table humps! It was done to a comparatively good standard and not the uneven bumpiness and jolts of others.

It would be interesting to see sales figures for quantity of shock absorbers etc over the last 20 years to see if there is the upward trend many of us suspect.
riverrock, Lockhaven liked this
By cockney steve
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1654493
Dunno about dampers, but spring -replacement used to be a bit unusual, now it's routine.
Councils have a statutory duty to maintain the highway......their "getout" is, they must reasonably be aware of the pothole or debris on the road. I had several customers make successful claims for damage, tyres, alloy wheels and in one case a complete front crossmember, suspension, wheels and tyres ( road had been cut- back to re-surface, leaving a deep, sharp step like a kerbstone across the entire road......he hit it at over 20 mph, suspension stopped about 3 inches before the rest of the car.
Roadworks were unmarked. Councils used to insure against claims, thinking it would be cheaper to claim than to repair. after several people fell through a pivoting, broken drain grid, the policy was reconsidered.
#1654517
Rob P wrote:
Flyin'Dutch' wrote:
The average lifetime of modern cars is such that within 20 years there will be vanishingly few non-autonomous cars on the roads after autonomous ones become common place.


Damn! That means the Jaguar only has five years left.

Rob P


Well I'm in trouble then, the beemer hit 20 last september!
#1654520
GAFlyer4Fun wrote:
Leodisflyer wrote:...I’ve had problems with people passing me at high speeds in 20 zones. ...


Often on bicycles thinking cars going too slow due to "congestion" rather than doing a 20 mph speed limit. Then they annoy the car drivers in the 30 mph limit because they wont use the cycle lane painted on the path resulting in a rolling road block increasing congestion, pollution, tailgating and some risky overtakes.

Perhaps we need the police to give them a friendly word to use the cycle lane provided, and if that does not work a friendly nudge into the cycle lane for environmental and road safety reasons.

I take it you've never used a cycle lane for anything except parking your car or emptying your ashtray? ;)
PaulB liked this
#1654625
eltonioni wrote:
GAFlyer4Fun wrote:
Leodisflyer wrote:...I’ve had problems with people passing me at high speeds in 20 zones. ...


Often on bicycles thinking cars going too slow due to "congestion" rather than doing a 20 mph speed limit. Then they annoy the car drivers in the 30 mph limit because they wont use the cycle lane painted on the path resulting in a rolling road block increasing congestion, pollution, tailgating and some risky overtakes.

Perhaps we need the police to give them a friendly word to use the cycle lane provided, and if that does not work a friendly nudge into the cycle lane for environmental and road safety reasons.

I take it you've never used a cycle lane for anything except parking your car or emptying your ashtray? ;)


That is equivalent to saying there is a car parked in a stupid place on the road, so let all the car drivers use the cycle path instead of waiting patiently for a gap in the oncoming traffic. :wink:

In my earlier post I was actually thinking of cycle lanes unobstructed by parked cars or wheelie bins or anything else so no excuse not to use them by cyclists. (If you have problems with cars parking in your cycle lanes, have a word with the local traffic warden).

I suspect nearer the truth is some inconsiderate cyclists dont want to have to slow down and give way when the cycle lane has give way lines at a crossing with a side road cos if they stay on the main road they can peddle at the same speed ish and other vehicles have to do the giving way instead. It is less effort and more enery efficient for the cyclist to keep the speed up than having to give way/stop and build up momentum again.

Funnily enough cars having to unnecessarily stop/start or decellerate/accelerate stuck behind a rolling roadblock cyclist makes the cars more polluting than in free flowing traffic.
So, if the cyclists used the cycle lanes (provided at great expense) the cyclists and everyone else benefits from cleaner air.

Tough choice for cyclists :wink:
(Yes I have cycled)
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By rikur_
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1654630
I'm just waiting for the green backlash against cycling ....... an electric car charged from solar / wind energy is about as green as it can get.
Unfortunately the human body isn't that efficient at extracting energy from food (food which has to be harvested and shipped around the world), not to mention the cyclist's contribution to methane pollution ....... It much sure be only a matter of time until we have a green lobby telling us to get in our solar cars, and stop environmentally polluting exercise ;-)

(NB: I'm told that depending on diet, even some diesel cars are less environmentally damaging to run than cycling)
Nick liked this
#1654633
GAFlyer4Fun wrote:
Leodisflyer wrote:...I’ve had problems with people passing me at high speeds in 20 zones. ...


Often on bicycles thinking cars going too slow due to "congestion" rather than doing a 20 mph speed limit. Then they annoy the car drivers in the 30 mph limit because they wont use the cycle lane painted on the path resulting in a rolling road block increasing congestion, pollution, tailgating and some risky overtakes.

Perhaps we need the police to give them a friendly word to use the cycle lane provided, and if that does not work a friendly nudge into the cycle lane for environmental and road safety reasons.


These Incidents have all occurred when driving.

There are many good reasons why cycle lanes are not compulsory and why they are not used. Personally I would ban shared cycle paths and any cycle lanes that are not fully segregated.

As for pollution and safety - lower energy usage at lower speeds, lower speeds are less likely to kill and why on earth would people assume that every car has an inefficient piston engine?

There is a side effect of electric vehicles (appreciate that this is a different thread). I can no longer justify riding a bike to work as the electric car is so much cheaper than using a bike and train, so I am reducing my pollution when compared to a piston engine, but adding to congestion as not on a bike.

The low per mile costs of electric cars are a serious issue for congestion, but we have another thread for that...
#1654634
Charliesixtysix wrote:
Leodisflyer wrote:
Lockhaven wrote:I cannot wait to hear exactly how they plan to be able to convert my 1957 car to drive by itself. :lol:


They don’t need to. Retrofit a speed limiter and, potentially, retrofit a braking mechanism. You will be in charge of steering.


Amusing idea :
Fitting a speed limiter to my 1949 Land-Rover....and a braking mechanism that works too! As for steering, I heve never been in ' charge' of that yet :wink:


Fuel flow limiter.

As for steering - yes, 25 years ago I had a company Astra that was stolen and recovered. The scroats had smashed the steering lock and it left play in the steering. Nearly killed me in the highlands. Was lucky to restain control after a hump in the road.
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