How many DUIs can somebody get before their insurance carrier drops them?

Never compromise.

it depends on the company and the state.  New Hampshire is a "take all comers" state.  No matter how bad a driver's record is, a company has to take him.  Of course, that driver is going to be premium'd out the ass, but he should have thought of that before drinking all of those mai tais and then running over the nuns.

And in most cases, insurance carriers only go back five years...which is about the time a person might spend in lock-up for vehicular homicide.  (YMMV)

Minty fresh

I guess the good news is that all those things have made a difference...deaths in per hundred thousand population have nearly halved in since 1980.  

Still, the auto is a leading cause of preventable death:                                    
From 2000 through 2004, MVA deaths accounted for
1.3% of all deaths Canada, but 17.3% of all
deaths among people younger than 30. Males
consistently had higher MVA death rates than
did females

What more could be done, I'm not sure.  What I really wonder though is why are we so blase about it?  I think we should be more frightened of autos than wolves, for example.

Self-driving cars are coming.

No, they are not.  Even if they halved the accident rate, the "self" driving creates a wonderfully deep pocketed new source of liability (the manufacturer) to be exploited when these cars do inevitably end up killing/maiming people in a crash.

Lexis already has a car that corrects when you weave over a divider.  Volvo has a car that steps on the brakes if it detects an obstacle in front of you.  Honda pops the hood if you hit something.  We're rapidly moving to having accident minimizing automation on cars.

I do agree with you that having a liability cap would speed up adoption.  But it's coming.

Thank God you're a lawyer and not an engineer. The world can survive ignorant lawyers.

Hate to break it to you, but I'm also an engineer.  

I'm also aware of technology, which you do not seem to be probably because you're too busy being obnoxious to actually read.

You're still an ignorant bigot. Good luck with that.

Who am I bigoted against?  

You are bigoted against everyone, as far as I can tell.

You know what Ken...you are perhaps the most malignant piece of shit I have run into on the 'net...and I have encountered actual crazy fuckers.  Seriously, you are one, single minded malicious fuckwad.  I don't even care what your problem is.  I can't even imagine what it would be like to be a friend of yours in real-life.  Either they're saints for putting up with you or (shudder) they're enough like you that they don't see anything wrong.  Do you shit where you eat, Ken?  What I mean to say is are you this big an asshole to the people who must encounter you in person?  Fuck that...if they're not smart enough to move away when you come into view they deserve what they get.

But, in order to keep things on topic, here is a list of items about automated cars being developed by people way smarter than you.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/escape/piocar.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driverless_car

Oh look...forget about the George Jetson Throughway for a minute...how about a car that's on the market right now that parks itself?

http://gizmodo.com/196551/lexus-self-parking-car-video-and-review

Minty fresh

Why do you believe that I don't know more about automated vehicles than you do? More to the point, what is it that prevents you from seeing that Thalia is an ignoramus?

Because you don't provide any information, and rely entirely on ad homonym attacks instead of making a valid point?  Because there is plenty of evidence that car automation is increasing, including a company that claims they will be ready to put a car on the market in 10 years?  And you have provided zip, zero, nada to contradict these links.

Tell me about your "knowledge" about driverless vehicle research.  And I will tell you about mine.

Because there is plenty of evidence that car automation is increasing...

Why do you believe that I don't know more about automated vehicles than you do?

Are you that fucking stupid?  At long last you malignant worm...are you that fucking stupid?

Where in the name that all that is holy did I say I know more about automated cars than you?  Wait...let me save you the trouble.  No FUCKING where.  That's where.  However, I did provide links to automated cars developed by people that I god damn guarantee are smarter than you, you fucking cook.

And don't even try palming this off on Thalia.  I don't give one shit about Thalia.  She's a big girl and can take care of herself.  You though...you my friend are the focus here...you arrogant, know-it-all, piece of shit.  

Minty fresh

... fucking... fucking...FUCKING...god damn...fucking cook...shit...piece of shit

One thing I don't understand, though: why did you call me a "cook"?

Forget it, Ken.  We love you...never change.  :-\

Minty fresh

Your first link is from '00, and mostly about experiments from '97.  The technology is advancing, but it really isn't advancing all that quickly.  Nobody really trusts the collision avoidance/vision yet.  Lexus uses human vision to decide exactly where to park.  We're still stuck with car trains that work just fine so long as they don't encounter really bad conditions, and automated driving that works fine so long as you make sure the road is clear.

Mostly the interest in the these systems is coming from civil engineers looking at the huge reduction in pavement space (including lane width shrinkage) that each car takes up with these systems relative the usual human driving technique of waiting two seconds after the car ahead of you moves before touching the gas pedal.  You get massive increases in highway capacities, relatively cheaply.

I don't think the US has any interest at all in trying a system like this.  Even if it's safer, it probably won't be nearly safe enough to be acceptable, because the accidents can now be blamed on the new technology.  I don't see much desire to experiment with something potentially dangerous.  I could see China or India making this kind of system mandatory for new cars in a decade or two, but right now it's too expensive and complicated for them.

Even if it's safer, it probably won't be nearly safe enough to be acceptable

I can't see how it could be less safe (given a mature tech) than what we currently have.  Given the number of people I see on my commute (even here in podunk Maine) who are not focused on their driving, I'm surprised we don't see more accidents.

I can see how folks would be hesitant to trust an automated system...no matter how safe.  Plus, I can't see us rugged individualist Americans giving up control of our cars.

Perhaps folks should take my outlook.  I was run over by a car when I was 4 years old.  Since then,  I cross the road and drive with the attitude that the other drivers are not only driving recklessly, but are in fact actively trying to kill me.  Sometimes paranoia is a survival trait.

Minty fresh

I can't see how it could be less safe (given a mature tech) than what we currently have.  Given the number of people I see on my commute (even here in podunk Maine) who are not focused on their driving, I'm surprised we don't see more accidents.

I think the point is that even if it is safer than what we have, people won't accept it because if it causes any accidents at all, people will blame the tech.  Let's say right now we have on average 10 accidents per 1000 miles driven.  If adopting this tech reduces that, on average, to 2 accidents in 1000 miles, we should adopt it, right?  But what if this tech causes 1 accident per 1000 miles of driving?  We're still a net gain by using the tech (3 accidents per 1000 miles), but will people install something in their car that they know might cause an accident, even if the device in general makes the roads safer?  Hell, you still have people that refuse to wear a seat-belt because "they might get trapped in the car by the belt if there's an accident" - never mind that belts save far, far more lives they they take.  Humans simply aren't very good at evaluating odds in a neutral manner.

Ce n'est pas une pipe. C'est une signature.

It's funny that you mention folks that won't wear seatbelts.  I have always worn them and of course, that was drilled into my head while I was learning how do drive.  Now, after all of these years, I actually feel uncomfortable driving without my seatbelt on.  I just don't feel a part of the car and feel like I have less control.

Minty fresh

Yeah, but the bad news is that they will run on Windows.

Minty fresh

Why doesn't it matter?

it's just a word, isn't it?

Minty fresh

No, it's more than that.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree then.

Minty fresh