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Permalink Reply by Wild Bill on December 22, 2009 at 9:43am

I think Dodge already has something like this in its minivans.

This won't change anything; good drivers will continue to be good drivers and bad drivers will continue to run over bicyclists (and curbs and pedestrians and loose pets, etc.).

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Permalink Reply by Duppie on December 22, 2009 at 9:58am

It is a fine example of the problem with applying new technology.
Technology moves so fast that society typically takes a while to figure out how to regulate that new technology, but over time they generally do manage that. Take as an example distracted driving. Within five or so years of it appearing on the US market, legislation was put in place to deal with that. It is not perfect yet, but future version will likely tighten the use of phones while driving down further.

One long-term approach to solve this kind of threat could be a campaign to make it socially unacceptable, similar to DUI laws and seatbelt laws. Over a generation or so, it has become really uncool to drink and drive. It is my understanding that in the 70's (I didn't live US at that time) nobody cared if you would get sloshed and then drive home. Currently none of my friends or coworkers would condone that

Also, for this car thingy to work, you need a USB wireless modem. I am not sure how many people have that outside business users (I had one for a while when my company payed for it, but it did cost $50+/month). That's $600 per year...

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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on December 22, 2009 at 10:38am

Oh great. Death Race 2000 may never happen in real life, but motorists will now be able to run people over while streaming it in their cars.

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Permalink Reply by Jared on December 22, 2009 at 5:26pm

This reminds me of this: http://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Office-WM-01-Laptop-Steering/dp/B000IZ...

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Permalink Reply by jason tinkey on December 23, 2009 at 4:40am

"While you're driving to grandma's house, your spouse can be finishing the holiday shopping and the kids can be chatting with friends and updating their Facebook profiles,"

yeah, heaven forbid they might have to talk to each other.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on December 23, 2009 at 5:00am

I agree with this.

People who don't pay attention will always find a reason to not pay attention. I once, at another job, had a motorist plow into one of our arrow boards (the flashy arrow mobile highway signs) at about 40MPH because she was looking for a napkin, totaled the sign and truck and it's a wonder she didn't kill herself.

People who are crappy drivers are crappy drivers not because of cell phones or anything else; they are crappy drivers because they don't pay attention.

Wild Bill said:

I think Dodge already has something like this in its minivans.

This won't change anything; good drivers will continue to be good drivers and bad drivers will continue to run over bicyclists (and curbs and pedestrians and loose pets, etc.).

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Permalink Reply by Duppie on December 23, 2009 at 5:08am

That was hilarious. It almost made me spill my morning coffee on my keyboard!

Gibbles T. Chimp said:

Innernetz!

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Permalink Reply by igz on December 23, 2009 at 6:54am

that was priceless

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Permalink Reply by Mike Schwab on December 23, 2009 at 3:51pm

http://shop.verizonwireless.com/?id=Verizon+Wireless+UM175+USB+Mode...
A cell phone frequency wireless modem that I have been using for 13 months. Worked well while riding in the back on a road trip earlier this month.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Bird on December 29, 2009 at 2:10pm

Serious question: How soon will it be before wi-fi is available on BICYCLES?

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on December 29, 2009 at 3:30pm

June 2009:

http://reviews.sprint.com/5611v2/115/mifi-2200-by-novatel-wireless-...

Brian Bird said:

Serious question: How soon will it be before wi-fi is available on BICYCLES?

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