It's a beauty, isn't it? It was owned by a little old lady that never drove it…
One experience you get when you sit in a subcommittee room waiting for the bill you are going to speak about is the ability to listen to other bills being presented. Recently, I had the experience of hearing HB 1207 presented. It's called autonomous vehicle technology. What's an autonomous vehicle? Well first of all, don't tell the Secretary of Homeland Security- autonomy is frowned upon there. An autonomous vehicle is one that can drive itself. I've written elsewhere on this site about "smart" cars for dumb drivers with things such as automatic braking and lane control. I'm old school to the point that if I want to get a sandwich, I'll pull into a restaurant to do so- I won't (as the cruise control urban legend goes) get up from behind the wheel and go make one. Apparently the day is not too far away where this could take place, but I'm still not sure where the benefit lies.
If you want one point of view on these, read this 2010 article on the Discovery News site. The title is "Driverless Cars Could Save Lives". So we have yet another "safety" issue- if you'd like to read about another "safety" issue, look at some of my thoughts about red light cameras here.
As a "car guy" and an American, the following statement flat out bothers me:
"In the future it will be forbidden for safety reasons for people to drive cars," predicted Raul Rojas, professor at Berlin's Free University (FU). "The cars of today are the horses of yesterday."
I suppose it is even worse that this particular article came from the same place as the Nazi Party. Military aviation enthusiasts will likewise note the acronym for the car- Made In Germany or MIG, which was the main type of Communist fighter used from Korea onwards.
At the subcommittee hearing, a local lawyer for Google, who is the main force behind this idea, testified about the car and concept. I happened to see him while I was in another legislator's office later in the day, and had to ask about the idea of a driverless car. I told him of my law enforcement background, and asked if the car was doing 6 MPH over the speed limit, who would get the ticket? He said it would not be possible for the car to exceed the speed limit.
Being a thinker, I wondered what about if one of the lights were out in the car, also a violation? What if the speed limit had changed due to construction? Anyone that has a modern GPS will realize the speed limits displayed on them are not always up to date. Then there is inclement weather, such as fog.There are any number of statutory issues when you take the human driver out of the equation yet still have a motor vehicle moving on a roadway.
How about this: The "Spirit of Berlin," another self-driving car developed by researchers at Berlin Free University, can be controlled using an iPhone app.
I'll paraphrase the usual "app for that" line by saying There's a hack for that. Or the venerable blue screen of death. My phone gets contrary from time to time and won't reliably connect via Bluetooth. I think when these types of cars hit the road, hackers will invariably try to take over a few just to see if they can.
Fortunately, all the Florida bill will do is allow for testing.
This as with most of what the government seems to be doing these days is a liberty issue. If we lose the ability to travel as we please, which our vehicles allow, then we've lost essential liberty. Please read the Ben Franklin-derived quote at the top of this page about liberty and security. I'll close by making an English-German hybrid of the university acronym: FU- how about Freedom Über alles? Freedom above all!
About Paul Henry
Paul has a law enforcement background, having served as a Florida Deputy Sheriff and State Trooper for over 25 years until he retired. He worked many levels and positions within the FHP, from road patrol trooper to traffic homicide investigator, then sergeant with homicide squad oversight. His last 5 years were as a lieutenant in criminal investigations, where he investigated numerous internal, ID Theft, commercial vehicle theft, and driver license/title fraud cases. Paul is best known for the September 2003 capture of Florida's most wanted fugitive Walter Rhodes, who was involved in the 1976 murders of Trooper Phillip Black and Constable Donald Irwin in South Florida. Rhodes had absconded from parole and was hiding in Washington State under a false identity. After retirement, Paul wished to pursue his automotive hobby and be left alone, but saw an increasing amount of waste in government as well as the government's increasing involvement in our private lives and liberty, so he became politically active.
Paul is the founder of the non-partisan citizen's group Floridians Against REAL ID, and authored two bills for the 2012 Florida legislative session: REAL ID partial repeal and Motorist Rights (red light cameras). Paul is the REAL ID and Red Light Camera issue lead for The Tea Party Network, a communications network for over 80 Tea Party groups. Paul works as the Deputy Director for Legislative Affairs with the Florida Campaign for Liberty and lives in the Tallahassee, Florida area.
Coming Soon to a Highway Near You: Driverless Cars
It's a beauty, isn't it? It was owned by a little old lady that never drove it…
One experience you get when you sit in a subcommittee room waiting for the bill you are going to speak about is the ability to listen to other bills being presented. Recently, I had the experience of hearing HB 1207 presented. It's called autonomous vehicle technology. What's an autonomous vehicle? Well first of all, don't tell the Secretary of Homeland Security- autonomy is frowned upon there. An autonomous vehicle is one that can drive itself. I've written elsewhere on this site about "smart" cars for dumb drivers with things such as automatic braking and lane control. I'm old school to the point that if I want to get a sandwich, I'll pull into a restaurant to do so- I won't (as the cruise control urban legend goes) get up from behind the wheel and go make one. Apparently the day is not too far away where this could take place, but I'm still not sure where the benefit lies.
If you want one point of view on these, read this 2010 article on the Discovery News site. The title is "Driverless Cars Could Save Lives". So we have yet another "safety" issue- if you'd like to read about another "safety" issue, look at some of my thoughts about red light cameras here.
As a "car guy" and an American, the following statement flat out bothers me:
"In the future it will be forbidden for safety reasons for people to drive cars," predicted Raul Rojas, professor at Berlin's Free University (FU). "The cars of today are the horses of yesterday."
I suppose it is even worse that this particular article came from the same place as the Nazi Party. Military aviation enthusiasts will likewise note the acronym for the car- Made In Germany or MIG, which was the main type of Communist fighter used from Korea onwards.
At the subcommittee hearing, a local lawyer for Google, who is the main force behind this idea, testified about the car and concept. I happened to see him while I was in another legislator's office later in the day, and had to ask about the idea of a driverless car. I told him of my law enforcement background, and asked if the car was doing 6 MPH over the speed limit, who would get the ticket? He said it would not be possible for the car to exceed the speed limit.
Being a thinker, I wondered what about if one of the lights were out in the car, also a violation? What if the speed limit had changed due to construction? Anyone that has a modern GPS will realize the speed limits displayed on them are not always up to date. Then there is inclement weather, such as fog.There are any number of statutory issues when you take the human driver out of the equation yet still have a motor vehicle moving on a roadway.
How about this: The "Spirit of Berlin," another self-driving car developed by researchers at Berlin Free University, can be controlled using an iPhone app.
I'll paraphrase the usual "app for that" line by saying There's a hack for that. Or the venerable blue screen of death. My phone gets contrary from time to time and won't reliably connect via Bluetooth. I think when these types of cars hit the road, hackers will invariably try to take over a few just to see if they can.
Fortunately, all the Florida bill will do is allow for testing.
This as with most of what the government seems to be doing these days is a liberty issue. If we lose the ability to travel as we please, which our vehicles allow, then we've lost essential liberty. Please read the Ben Franklin-derived quote at the top of this page about liberty and security. I'll close by making an English-German hybrid of the university acronym: FU- how about Freedom Über alles? Freedom above all!
About Paul Henry
Paul has a law enforcement background, having served as a Florida Deputy Sheriff and State Trooper for over 25 years until he retired. He worked many levels and positions within the FHP, from road patrol trooper to traffic homicide investigator, then sergeant with homicide squad oversight. His last 5 years were as a lieutenant in criminal investigations, where he investigated numerous internal, ID Theft, commercial vehicle theft, and driver license/title fraud cases. Paul is best known for the September 2003 capture of Florida's most wanted fugitive Walter Rhodes, who was involved in the 1976 murders of Trooper Phillip Black and Constable Donald Irwin in South Florida. Rhodes had absconded from parole and was hiding in Washington State under a false identity. After retirement, Paul wished to pursue his automotive hobby and be left alone, but saw an increasing amount of waste in government as well as the government's increasing involvement in our private lives and liberty, so he became politically active. Paul is the founder of the non-partisan citizen's group Floridians Against REAL ID, and authored two bills for the 2012 Florida legislative session: REAL ID partial repeal and Motorist Rights (red light cameras). Paul is the REAL ID and Red Light Camera issue lead for The Tea Party Network, a communications network for over 80 Tea Party groups. Paul works as the Deputy Director for Legislative Affairs with the Florida Campaign for Liberty and lives in the Tallahassee, Florida area.