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Comment by jjnoakes | Hacker News Reader

Who is just driving into cars at stop signs because they stop for an extra two seconds?

Ask my dad or the variety of people in your life that have had it happen to them. I guarantee you know people this has happened to. Have you never heard of getting rear ended?

Of course. Although most rear-ending I've seen is on highways when drivers (that shouldn't be on the road) fail to leave adequate distance in front of them.

> I guarantee you know people this has happened to.

I'm unaware of anyone I know around here ever getting rear-ended because someone stopped at a stop sign. Granted, the culture here is to actually stop at each stop sign, so, you know, it's expected that people will actually stop and not just assumed that they're going to roll through.

> Ask my dad or the variety of people in your life that have had it happen to them

Every rear-end accident I've ever been aware of at a stop sign would have happened whether the person in front stopped for 2 seconds, 5 seconds, or 7 seconds. They were all due to the person in the back not paying attention and not driving safely. Whether the person in the front did a slow 5 second rolling stop or a 5-7 second full stop has never been relevant.

Related situation, but not quite the same: I know someone who wrote off their car on the A14 near Cambridge (UK) because they weren’t paying attention in stop-start traffic and rear-ended the one in front.

Ironically, she hates Elon Musk and everything he does, so memes about how self driving cars are a terrible idea.

You know what is really ironic? If this person was in a Tesla or similar car with obstacle detection the car would have never let them rear end the one in front in stop-and-go traffic.

That’s the point ;)

Too subtle for this sleep deprived brain. Cheers to you sir :-)

Robots who do not follow traffic norms will quickly become infuriating.

Not an answer to the question.

Anyone who advocates that not stopping a car at stop signs is a "norm" should be launched directly into the sun. This is why traffic deaths in the U.S. are 40k/year and increasing at 15% per year.

If you think a rolling stop warrants being launched into the sun, well, I will have to question your good judgement, or perhaps whether or not you have actually driven a car before.

The increase has more to do with cellphones, but people don’t want to talk about that because there’s a very simple, easy fix - it would just cost advertisers and anger people who couldn’t use their phone in the car anymore.

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