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Tesla reintroduces 'Mad Max' Full Self-Driving mode that breaks speed limits (www.engadget.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 11 points 1 year ago (16 children)

I’m not sure what this system does, but my non-Tesla car can adjust its intelligent cruise control by speed limit signs it sees, and you can tell it to have a buffer. Mine is set for +5, so if the sign says 45 miles per hour, the car drives itself at 50 mph.

If it’s something like that, which you set yourself, it’s probably fine. Just know what the police in your area enforce. Where I live you can generally go five over without an issue, ten over on the freeways. Everyone does this, so if you go the speed limit you end up annoying everyone.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 year ago (11 children)

    So dumb that society collectively agreed that 35 means 40, 40 means 45, 45 means 50, etc.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    There’s a little more to it than that. They also need to consider that, in cars with an analogue speed dial, the actual speed is not displayed precisely. Plus, there may be minor discrepancies between the speed dial and the actual speed, which can be affected by non-standard tyres etc. So a small “buffer” in acceptable speeds is pretty reasonable.

    I recall being told by someone at a Mitsubishi factory that car manufacturers actually intentionally set the speed dials to be slightly higher speed than reality to accommodate for people’s need to break the rules just a little…!

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    I was also told it's about the calibration of the radar guns. They are calibrated to -7/+0 meaning if you are going 47 mph there is a chance you are picked up as going 40. That said if you are going 41 or 42 there is a good chance the cop picks you up as going less than 40.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (5 children)

    It makes us feel like we’re speedy little rebels. 🤣

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    But then why don't we all shoplift packs of gum every week?

    Speeding is the one law everyone agrees is fun and acceptable to break a bit, despite being more dangerous than many actual crimes.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

    Because when the road is built for a safe speed target of 65, then the limit is set at 55 instead, yeah you get people who are breaking the legal limit but not the actual safe speed.

    Edit: forgot a link: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/design/standards/151007.cfm

    tl;dr: design speeds and speed limits are not necessarily related. "Selection of a posted speed is an operational decision for which the owner and operator of the facility is responsible."

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Where I'm at, they're trying to do that plan where they lower speed limits and change the roads to reflect the slower speeds with narrowing, or bikes lanes, or speed bumps etc to reduce car accident deaths, but they ignored the entire part about changing the roads to reflect the new speeds, and just lowered the speeds.

    So you got these 4-6 lane roads that were designed for 50km/h and now they're 30-40km/h and absolutely no one, is doing the posted limit, at the new 30 areas, not even cops.

    All I can come up with is now if you speed like people may have before, you're really over the limit, so it's easier to ticket someone? Like before people might have gone 55-60 in the 50 zone, but now going 55 is well over 40, and impound level over 30.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    I've driven by a few radar speed indicators in my car, and I'm consistently going 4 km/h less than what my digital speedometer says, regardless of speed. I find it difficult to believe this is an accident. So if I had your vehicle and it behaved like my speedometer does, I would still only be +1 over the limit. Also, I now drive with my speedometer +5 to +9 relative to the speed limit, which keeps me more in line with the traffic around me.

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