[spdrun]

I’ve been reading about tests of platooning literally since the 90s. Practically, it’s a recipe for a pileup if there’s a mechanical failure or unexpected event (something falls off a vehicle, etC).

It might work for unmanned trucks, where only the cargo is at risk. Cars with people in them won’t follow that closely. If anything, there will be LESS tailgating, not more — I suspect something like a “braking distance + 50% safety factor” rule will be followed.

You already have vehicles that are heavily automated, like aircraft and metro trains, that COULD theoretically operate much closer. But good engineering dictates safety factors.

[spdrun]

Autonomous cars will be unlikely to draft. The “cars following a foot from each other” thing is a myth. Any autonomous car would have to be as safe as possible for the manufacturer to avoid lawsuits. Even if you remove reaction time, braking distances vary significantly between vehicles, even vehicles of the same type (depending on load, tires, etc). Following distances might be slightly reduced, but not enough to draft.

[spdrun]

Also, assuming CO2 is a concern, EVs are distance/charge-time limited, even more so in very hot or cold weather. Electric trains are basically unlimited-range EVs. Combining them with ZipCar type (autonomous) vehicles at the stations would yield an interesting transportation network.

And who says the trains themselves won’t be more heavily automated? If they don’t need a driver, it would be cheaper to run one or two car rail vehicles, 5x more frequently than we run five or ten car trains today.

[spdrun]

Depends how either is implemented. I had to go to a town in east-central PA last weekend. Took the train. Outside of cities (per my phone’s GPS), the train was doing 110-120 mph, with not many stops. This wasn’t a “high speed train” — those were late 70s era rail cars being used between NYC and Pittsburgh.

No way a car (automated or not) being driven in a safe manner would beat that speed. Plus there’s something to be said for shared facilities, bathroom and bar car. Hard to do either in motion unless you’re in an RV.

[spdrun]

^^^

Not only. Poorer people tend to disproportionately rent apartments and street-park. Makes charging a bit harder than if you own a house + carport or garage.

[spdrun]

Submit to a breath test, ask for a blood test in a hospital.

(a) it makes more trouble for them
(b) it’s more accurate than a breath test

Better yet, don’t drive drunk.

[spdrun]

Unless he was actually caught DRIVING, he shouldn’t be charged for DUI or fined. Even if the motor was running (who knows, he might not have wanted to freeze to death).

Charging people who sleep in their cars is just dirty ball. Yeah, not doing so might cause a few drunks to get away, but I’d rather err on the side of letting the guilty walk than causing trouble for the innocent.

Best outcome here would be a jury trial and full-on nullification.

As an aside: let’s say one does need to sleep it off in the car. Would cutting the ignition leads be enough to make the car legally inoperable? Assuming no auto part stores are open till the next morning.

[spdrun]

I just like the taste of coffee but for some reason I do not like the taste of decalf. So the “caffeine” must give coffee a certain taste.

Decaf uses some pretty vile solvents to extract the caffeine. Methylene chloride (aka paint stripper) comes to mind. Maybe you’re tasting the toxic residue in the decaf.

[spdrun]

I wonder how many of those dipathetics are fats who’d stand to lose 100 lbs or so.

[spdrun]

Solution: public insurance. Where most procedures are covered by ONE plan with KNOWN pricing. Makes billing much simpler.

There will still be private plans available for non-routine stuff not covered by the public insurance.

[spdrun]

Looks like the lion’s share of problems are cosmetic/body/trim, not serious.

[spdrun]

There are four states of a listing.
1. Active
2. Contingent
3. Pending
4. Sold

Brokers should be using (2) during contingency period. Keep in mind that this problem (if any) is nothing new, so inventory is still a valid basis for comparison, if not a 100% accurate figure.

[spdrun]

As far as the $700-1000 range of HOAs, are we talking about HOA only in DC, or HOA with taxes included i.e. a co-op? $1000/mo for just HOA seems high even with a gym. Keep in mind that a very good gym membership, in NYC costs about $80/mo. That’s with a pool, multiple gyms, etc.

Doorman adds maybe $100/mo (in NYC), but many doorman buildings are newer, so they have a parking garage downstairs that’s rented out to offset the HOA dues.

BTW – in San Diego, for a 1/1, no elev, no doorman, but with pool, paying under $250/mo, and reserves are actually increasing.

[spdrun]

Is that legal for them to raise rates without prior notice?

[spdrun]

Does Las Vegas have any true natives?

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