teethgrinder posted:

I am enjoying the replies very much

https://twitter.com/jillreports/status/1639037832386998272?s=20

withak posted:

Amtrak food is mediocre at best

actionjackson posted:

a unit in our building is for sale, and a potential buyer wanted to know about EV charging. while it's recent building and on the ground level (unlike this article), we are pretty sure that there's no way to install chargers for individual spaces (there are no "common" spaces to use, like in that picture, and the spaces are owned by individual residents, not the association). At the very least, if there is, it's pretty difficult because you need to increase the electrical capacity of the building (however that works). So it's a liability for everyone, not just the person with the vehicle. My parents in a giant senior condo and they can't do it either, and they have maybe 70 cars in their garage. No one has a plan lol

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

Mystic Mongol posted:

Possums are street trash, and I love them. They mostly only come out a night, but they're out there protecting you from lime disease in the ticks, and actual limes in the trash.

Gunshow Poophole posted:

look at this dogshit!! idk what the gently caress that poo poo on the back rack is maybe a camper setup??

mystes posted:

I think the point is you can camp somewhere without setting up a tent, like a mini rv

Weka posted:

What do you fellows think about these new driverless taxis roaming the streets?

https://ktla.com/morning-news/waymo-self-driving-car-ride-demo-san-francisco/

Personally I support the butlerian jihad but for unrelated reasons.

Weka posted:

My understanding is that personal transportation sized vehicles do a negligible amount of damage compared to much larger vehicles. So it's only arterial roots that will have lower maintenance if we reduce the ubiquity of cars. Although I guess efficiency points for the size of freight trucks might look different if they're self driving and powered by sodium batteries.

And please, before someone says trains, I'm obviously talking about the last leg of the journey.

https://www.insidescience.org/news/how-much-damage-do-heavy-trucks-do-our-roads

gradenko_2000 posted:

so the phrase "missing middle" refers to some kind of "middle" between high-end homes and low-end homes?

that doesn't loving fix anything!

Polo-Rican posted:

lol, those little curbs are exactly tall enough to knock you off your bike and exactly short enough to allow a driver to roll over them effortlessly

Cup Runneth Over posted:

https://twitter.com/Dylan_Why_/status/1670151356416655361

Doc Hawkins posted:

one extra gently caress you to our heroes in the fire department, and L O L at the planned posts being spaced one hundred loving feet apart. just say it's a turning and parking lane! admit it!

corona familiar posted:

they also used to close certain blocks of Valencia to car traffic entirely. always loved to see what was happening in the street on those days. people would hold impromptu dinner parties and music performances that drew decent crowds. wonder if that'll ever happen now that we're putting a big ribbon of bad ideas straight down the middle of the road

quote:

Around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, four people gathered at Duboce Park on the Wiggle, each on a bicycle and, most notably, several bright orange traffic cones in their front baskets.

This was the fourth night in a week of shenanigans for members of Safe Street Rebel, a San Francisco “anti-car dominance” and pro cycling, walking and transit group, that has reacted to the spread of driverless cars in San Francisco with a simple fix: Putting traffic cones on their front hoods to stop them cold in their tracks.

“They’re here! It’s coming up,” a member suddenly called out near 10 p.m. Several days of practice have given them eagle-eye skill in sensing the approach of driverless cars from 60 feet away, or through the camouflage of a tree’s leaves on a slope.

They waited in place, traffic cones ready, but this driverless car was too far away. Waymo and Cruise vehicles view the ubiquitous cones as sure signs of emergencies: Put a cone on the hood of a car and it stops. The cones used tonight had PG&E written on them and had been “migrated” from the Sunset District.

But within 45 minutes, the group had a victory: They coned both a Waymo and a Cruise, stopping the crs in the middle of Steiner Street.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go,” they said, as a mood of enthusiasm grew. Based on their experience, teams from the companies can show up at the scene within a short 10 minutes to rescue the cars, but throughout the night every minute seemed to be its own reward. At times, snapping pictures of the capped cars, they resembled pirates hoarding loot, and they certainly showed the mettle of seasoned raiders.

Safe Street Rebel is hosting its week of action to bring attention to a July 13 vote on Thursday, when the California Public Utilities Commission will decide whether Cruise and Waymo can expand their robotaxi services to all of San Francisco and begin charging fares.

“This isn’t like the Board of Supervisors, it’s a state-wide committee that has a say over whether these can be on our streets,” a participant of the cone action said as he watched for vehicles entering Steiner Street.

Four days after officially announcing their work on Twitter, the group has gone viral. One of the tweets has received some 4.6 million views, and the group has been swamped with requests from some 35 media outlets that its members have to take turns for interviews. (They said “No” to Fox News, twice.)

In the group’s own words, their “enemies are cars, not people in cars.” They try not to interfere with cars carrying passengers. Sometimes, however, their eyes fail them — the windows are too dark. “gently caress you! I’m in here,” said a female passenger inside a Waymo they attempted to cap with a cone.

This incident was a notable failure, and afterwards the squad agreed with each other to say “clear” when they were sure the vehicle was unattended with passengers.

Other rules Safe Street Rebels have created: Avoid bus stops, and cars in the middle of an intersection, to make their efforts “provocative” instead of disruptive.

Over the course of the night, group members were upset to see some eight self-driving cars in 45 minutes on the Wiggle, a flat stretch of zig-zagging streets taking cyclists across the Haight from Market Street to the Panhandle — without the need to climb hills. “It’s supposed to be the city’s premier bike route. Why aren’t they taking any of the other roads?” a participant asked.

One night, the group recalled, they saw five Cruises in a row, seemingly all following the same route, which, they believe, could be disruptive to the city’s traffic if applied on a larger scale.

While public opinion on the group remains polarized, few appeared surprised to see them. “Good job!” a biker cheered as he rode by. A couple snuggled nearby also said they had seen the group on social media.

The group skillfully rode through areas where they knew driverless vehicles were more likely to appear. As they rode through the deserted streets, they sometimes opened their arms to enjoy the wind.

They picked up unused, abandoned traffic cones to use for obstructing the autonomous vehicles. “No department of the city has their own cones anymore. They all, like, steal each other’s cones,” one of them claimed.

“Cones migrate!” another member answered. “It’s a seasonal thing with the Santa Ana winds, they start going north. They’re like umbrellas. No one actually owns an umbrella, they get moved around. But the cones are moved strategically.”

“We make sure not to take cones from things that are actually marking hazards,” they added

At 10:40 p.m., the group ran into their third and final target, a Cruise vehicle at Fell and Baker streets. They put a cone on it, stopping it dead. “It’s wonderful!” said an older pedestrian as he watched. “I want a guy driving, not a robot. Keep up the good work.”

“One of the things that’s really made this go so viral is even if you support these vehicles, it’s really funny. It’s such a ridiculous sight. It’s a tech company and we made it a unicorn…Everyone likes unicorns,” they said, trying to explain the popularity of their stunts.

A Waymo spokesperson was having none of it. “Not only is this understanding of how AVs operate incorrect, but this is vandalism and encourages unsafe and disrespectful behavior on our roadways. We will notify law enforcement of any unwanted or unsafe interference of our vehicles on public roadways.”

A Cruise spokesperson said, “Intentionally obstructing vehicles gets in the way of those efforts and risks creating traffic congestion for local residents.”

The San Francisco Police Department has not yet responded as to whether the act constitutes a crime.

“The SFMTA does not endorse ANY actions that may increase the number of disabled AVs [autonomous vehicles] on San Francisco streets,” the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency said in a tweet. “We continue to express our concerns about disabled AVs on San Francisco streets that interfere with emergency response, with transit service, and with the ability of all travelers to get to their destinations in San Francisco.”

Safe Street Rebel first got attention in 2021 when the city wanted to open the Great Highway to cars. In 2022, they launched the “Just A Minute” project on Valencia Street, when they blocked vehicles parked in the bike lanes with signs reading “So sorry, just a minute,” the kind of note that some drivers leave on their windshields.

The group has also created some two dozen signs showing the routes, hours and a Muni logo to help people find bus stops too inconspicuous to be noticed, though many of these signs were later taken down by the transit agency without prior notice.

“We have a love-hate relationship with the SFMTA,” they said.

Even for a group with a history of creative protest tactics, the cones action is “more edgy” in a legal sense, they acknowledged.

The operation, they said, is like the “original notion of hacking.” Mirroring the demographics of San Francisco, the group has no small number of tech workers. “A lot of the people that work with the code are more skeptical of computers,” one participant said.

“Rather than just blindly cheerleading ‘All of tech is good. Every single new technology is perfect,’” another said. We can “choose what technology we want in our society.”

On the most bountiful night this week, they stopped some 10 vehicles; sometimes they noticed they had stopped the same Cruise vehicle — they all have a unique name — more than once.

At 11 p.m., the group called it quits and left the last unused traffic cone around a dumpster, surrounded by its kind. “We’re bringing more diversity to its population,” one joked.

DaysBefore posted:

I didn't realise robot cars were out and about already, figured they were still in testing. Not that I trust human drivers either but man gently caress that

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

I'm 5'7"

Groda posted:

So is there anything even approaching a national definition of an ebike on a US federal level? Or is it all on the state level to decide when a powered bicycle becomes a moped/motorcycle?

Megamissen posted:

i think its that regular clothes give drivers the impression of a visitor on the road, while cycling clothes give them the impression of someone asserting that they belong on the road - someone trying to take their space rather than just temporarily using it

Cup Runneth Over posted:

Rifle would take too long to unsling. Mount a gun on the handlebars like a technical or like it's WW2, or open carry a pistol on your left side so it's most visible to drivers. Then it's a real threat even if they hit you.

Fitzy Fitz posted:

Self-driving cars keep loving with emergency responses in SF

https://missionlocal.org/2023/08/cruise-waymo-autonomous-vehicle-robot-taxi-driverless-car-reports-san-francisco/

https://missionloca.s3.amazonaws.com/mission/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/av_reports_2_Redacted.pdf

lmao

Blackhawk posted:

Kinda shocked that thing got stuck, doesn't seem like the terrain is that rough? I would have thought these ostensibly off-road vehicles would be able to drive around on that kind of scree slope otherwise what are they good for?

Platystemon posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKqp8nAIsYE

It’s O.K. that people abandon thousands of bicycles in the desert because the help will pick them up and ship them overseas to orphans.

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

I"m confused as to why I'm supposed to be sympathetic to you

quote:

Warning: This story contains details about injuries sustained in a violent attack, which some readers may find distressing

A man was left with chunks of flesh and bone carved out of him after a brutal road rage incident where a motorist, armed with a samurai sword, attacked him and left him bleeding in a ditch.

The victim, who was out walking his dog, was left bleeding in a ditch in critical condition – but managed to survive the attack in the small rural town of Karaka, south of Auckland.

However, the seriousness of the injuries sustained by the victim – who cannot be named for legal reasons – have left the person with ongoing issues, including problems with their speech.

Court documents obtained by Stuff have confirmed the incident, and, how the shocking attack played out.

The incident happened in January, when a dog-walker was taking a stroll on Batty Rd in Karaka.

At around 3pm, Darryn Clarke was driving his 2022 Tesla Model 3 on the same road.

The court documents don’t state what speed Clarke was doing, but the dog walker was concerned by how fast he was driving – and stood in the middle of the lane, indicating for Clarke to slow down.

Clarke did slow down and drove around the dog-walker.

As Clarke passed, the dog-walker tapped the roof of the white Tesla with his palm.

And at that point, the situation quickly escalated.

“The defendant stopped his car. He grabbed a replica samurai sword, covered by a wooden sheath. Wielding the sword, he got out of car and advanced at the complainant,” the agreed summary of facts state.

“The defendant struck the complainant with a downward diagonal strike, starting at the complaint’s neck and continuing down past his shoulder and hitting his left hand. The sword’s sheath shattered on the initial impact; the blade was immediately exposed”.

The sword cut the man’s ear, neck and cleaved a large chunk of flesh and bone from his left shoulder.

He was knocked to the ground by the force and fell into a nearby ditch, while Clarke got back into his Tesla – with his wife and kids inside – and drove away.

The court documents state the victim was “in intense pain and bleeding heavily”.

They managed to get to their feet and make it to a nearby driveway on Batty Road, where they rang the intercom in a bid to get help.

However, no one on the intercom responded.

He then tried to use his phone to call for help, but “could not operate it as the blood prevented him from unlocking it”.

At about 3.08pm, the victim’s son was driving on Batty Rd.

He noticed his father lying in a ditch and the dog nearby.

“He applied emergency first aid to slow the bleeding and called an ambulance.”

The man was taken to Middlemore hospital in a critical condition.

He’d suffered a “deep laceration to his neck, down to the bone but without hitting the spinal cord”.

His jaw was also broken and his facial muscles and nerves were severed.

“The sword also cleaved a large chunk of flesh and bone from the man’s left shoulder, which required emergency surgery and skin grafts.”

The tendons in his left hand were also severed. He suffers ongoing facial dropping and a speech impediment as result of the injuries to his face.

When spoken to by police, Clarke admitted the offending and described it as “stupid road rage”.

“He stated he stuck the complainant with the sword inside its sheath, and that he only used 50% force.”

Clarke has pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to injure.

He will be sentenced in October.

mystes posted:

I honestly think that 20mph is probably a good limit for ebikes unless people are prepared to treat them like motorcycles and wear motorcycle gear