The Things You Hear & See In An Urban Environment (w/Video)

When you have your windows open in an urban environment you hear all sorts of strange sounds. Two weeks ago we heard a diesel engine plus something odd enough that we paused what we were watching to have a look.

A tow truck was into a corner after having pulled the Chrysler 200 from the other side of the drive. Curious how this would play out I switched to video.

The Chrysler 200 is a front wheel-drive car — which should be towed from the front.  You always want the drive wheels off the ground — except, manual transmission vehicles in neutral can be towed with all four on the ground.

If the car was being towed to a mechanic for repairs, the owner would’ve given the operator the key so it could’ve been pushed away from the wall and towed from the front. The most obvious answer is the car was being repossessed, though parked illegally in someone’s reserved spot is a remote possibility.

The tow truck is from St. Louis Metropolitan Towing, center of the 2010 towing scandal.

— Steve Patterson

18th & Market St: Pedestrians Must Wait While Vehicles Turn Opposite Direction

Recently my husband and I were walking/rolling back toward our loft from the Union Station MetroLink Station. For some reason we were on the East side of 18th — usually I’m on the West side. However, both sides are equally poorly designed and maintained.

Anyway, we’re Northbound on the East side of 18th as we approach Market St and I notice something I’d never seen before: Northbound vehicles get a green light but pedestrians don’t get a walk signal while the left arrow is on. Since NB vehicles are turning left I get why pedestrians on the West side of 18th St aren’t given a walk signal. You’d never want to give pedestrians the ok to walk while drivers get a left arrow — like at Tucker & Olive and Tucker & Locust.

Why should pedestrians get a walk signal? Pedestrians have the right-of-way except in cases where vehicles are given a specific signal such as a left arrow. In this cases pedestrians must wait, but in the example the only turning cars would be NB ones turning right onto EB Market — they’d yield to pedestrians crossing the street — like most intersections. My guess is this is another instance where the city just didn’t think about pedestrian users.

Let’s take a look…

Because still images can’t tell the full story I’ve put together a brief video:

Yes, another crossing at this same intersection is done correctly. If this were done right, pedestrians could cross Market St before Southbound vehicles get a green light and potentially make left turns onto Eastbound Market St — they don’ t get a left arrow so they must yield to Northbound vehicles and pedestrians crossing Market.

I see no reason why pedestrians don’t get a walk sign as soon as the Northbound traffic signal turns green.

— Steve Patterson

Readers: Driverless Cars Safe For Occupants & Others

I’m very open to the idea of driverless/autonomous vehicles, but as a pedestrian in a wheelchair a recent patent gave me pause:

Google has patented what is essentially a flypaper that sticks pedestrians to a vehicle should they be hit by an autonomous car. The tech giant sees the solution as a way to minimize crash injuries, which it says aren’t caused by the initial collision with the vehicle but when the pedestrian is thrown to the ground after the impact.

The patent describes the solution as a layer of adhesive on the front of a vehicle that pedestrians will stick to in the event of a collision with a vehicle. To prevent other objects from sticking to the adhesive in everyday driving, Google has placed a covering over it that will break in a crash to reveal the adhesive layer that sticks to pedestrians.

Google is the latest to develop a system aimed at reducing pedestrian injuries if a vehicle hits them and is doing so with self-driving cars in mind. Volvo developed a pedestrian airbag, which deploys out of the hood while Jaguar created a system that raises the car’s hood after a collision so that the pedestrian that is hit gets redirected to a softer crumple zone. Neither system, however, addresses the issue of pedestrians experiencing more serious injuries by being thrown off the car. (Motor Trend)

So glad engineers are working on ways to minimize injuries after hitting a pedestrian. Seriously, many new cars sold the last few years have self-stopping technology. This car wasn’t so equipped — though they thought it was.

Ouch!

A couple of guys tested two Volvos that were equipped, but it didn’t always work

Here’s a promotional video from Volvo talking about 100 self-driving vehicles they’ll have on the roads in Gothenburg next year:

Volvo isn’t the only manufacturer working on self-driving technology, Tesla introduced Autopilot in October 2015.

Here’s a young driver who finds it hard getting used to the car driving itself.

The following video went viral  — a guy’s mom behind the wheel. She was a bit more freaked out than the guy above.

Below she says she’s been driving for 50 years.

Generally younger drivers are more open to autonomous features than..uh…more seasoned drivers. But even the young can get freaked out:

Funny videos, but one Tesla owner posted an informative video of his 35-mile commute showing Autopilot in use for 37+ minutes, with just 6+ minutes driven manually.

From 2014:

The poll of 1,033 vehicle owners found 65% of vehicle owners think self-driving cars are a dangerous idea. Yet 61% say they are likely to consider a model with autonomous safety features like park assist and collision avoidance on their next purchase. And by a wide margin, 84% those participating in the survey said safety features take precedence over infotainment. (USA Today)

From 2015:

Self-driving cars may be cool and the wave of the future, and if you believe Elon Musk, human-driven cars could one day be illegal. But many Americans aren’t convinced, with a third of saying they would never buy a self-driving vehicle. That’s among the findings of a new Harris poll on Americans’ attitudes toward autonomous vehicles. The poll surveyed 2,276 adults online and found that, for the most part, we can’t agree on the good and the bad when it comes to self-driving vehicles. More than a third of respondents say these vehicles are the future of driving, while almost one quarter believe the vehicles are something out of a ‘Jetsons’ cartoon. (NBC News)

Which brings me to the results of Sunday Poll:

Q: Do you think driverless cares are safe? For whom?

• Safe for occupants/safe for others 20 [51.28%]
• Safe for occupants/dangerous for others 4 [10.26%]
• Dangerous for occupants/safe for others 0 [0%]
• Dangerous for occupants/dangerous for others 11 [28.21%]
• Unsure/no opinion 4 [10.26%]

I think occupants are pretty safe, but I still worry about pedestrian safety. But it won’t take much to be better than human drivers.

— Steve Patterson

Shoddy Curb Ramp/Crosswalk At 16th Street & Market St

Lately I’ve been focusing on my pedestrian experience in the city, some recent posts include:

• 8th & Market: Vehicle Stop Line Where Pedestrians Should Cross 8th Street, No Marked Crosswalk
• Deutsch Family Has Profited From Public Right-Of-Way For Nearly Two Decades
• Downtown>Hampton>IKEA>Downtown
• St. Louis Fails At Crosswalks
• Olive & Tucker Designed for Pedestrian-Vehicle Conflict

Today post is another example of poor quality work.  This isn’t about being a cash-strapped city — this is incompetence at all levels.

Looking at Google Street View I know this was done by the city sometime between September 2009 and August 2015.  It was during this time the city took possession of the building from the federal government. I remember the old ramp, there are still some like it. It was done during a period when detectable warnings weren’t required, plus the location had no relationship with their crosswalk. But it was flush with the street.

The maximum vertical hight change allowable per ADA guidelines is 1/4″  — but this curb ramp is substantially higher than that. Sadly, it is very common to have greater than 1/4″ at ramps. Many are so bad I email the Streets Dept’s asphalt guy directly so they can do a non-compliant patch. Many things can be non-compliant, but still useful. This, and others, are hard to use and they damage the drive wheel on my chair. This would be very challenging for someone using a manual chair, and a trip hazard for a person walking with a cane or walker. In fact — this is a trip hazard for anyone walking here.

I have no idea if this was built by city employees or by a hired contractor. Either way, we’s never tolerate such shoddy work on our homes or cars — it shouldn’t be allowed in the public right-of-way.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Do You Think Driverless Cars Are Safe?

Self-driving autonomous driverless cars are quickly becoming a reality. New Tesla’s have autopilot and Uber is testing in Pittsburgh:

The first Uber car that doesn’t need a driver has hit the streets.

The ride-hailing behemoth announced in a blog post Thursday that it has begun testing a self-driving car in Pittsburgh, home of the company’s nascent Advanced Technologies Center.

The car, a Ford Fusion Hybrid with a roof-full of radar, lasers and cameras, will be collecting road-mapping data as well as testing its real-world traffic reactions. Uber’s interest in autonomous car technology dates to a year ago, when the $60 billion start-up began hiring Carnegie Mellon University robotics experts to staff its new center not far from the Pittsburgh-based school.

As with all self-driving cars that are approved for testing on public roads, Uber’s vehicle will have a safety driver who can take over the controls should the situation demand it. (USA Today)

I’m curious to experience the technology, but I’d be nervous. So this is the subject of today’s poll:

This is based on today’s technology — not five years in the future. The poll closes as 8pm tonight. No new post tomorrow, have a happy Memorial Day!

— Steve Patterson