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Feds Make Tesla Remove Rolling Stops

13 Comments

Why that’s a really bad idea.

I’m putting this post up late tonight, because we just got back from the launch/landing at Vandenberg. I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts tomorrow, because I consider this a very important topic.

I will say, though, that the only moving ticket I’ve ever gotten other than speeding tickets, is for a rolling stop, and I consider it stupid.

13 thoughts on “Feds Make Tesla Remove Rolling Stops”

  1. Those “unwritten rules” serve as a universal pretext for police to pull people over whenever they want.

    1. Indeed. I was pulled over for rolling a stop sign in a residential area on a motorcycle at 11:30 PM, 4 blocks from my house, headed home after my shift. It was a long day, I didn’t want to stop and put my foot down, there were no vehicles approaching the intersection or with their lights on, I slowed to 2-5 MPH, and went.

      I looked once more to my right because I saw headlights flick on, followed by the rolling cherries.

      Regardless of my skin color, in that neighborhood, any excuse is a good enough excuse for a cop to pull someone over, or at least it was back then, and it’s one of the few times I’ve been legitimately nervous to be pulled over.

  3. Far too reliant on absolute stops when a “Yield” would work just as well. Especially in rural areas where all you really need is to let drivers know who has the right-of-way, or to slow down and look.

    1. You’d be surprised how many drivers in my town treat Yield signs as Stop signs, even when they can plainly see there’s no one to yield TO.

  4. It’s been over 25 years since my last ticket, but my last warning was for a rolling stop.

    Come to think of it, two of the three times I’ve been in a car stopped by police, my late wife was the one driving — though one of those was because she did something I urged her to do because of a traffic light malfunction.

    It’s surprisingly difficult around here to commit a nominal traffic infraction in front of a cop, compared to California and (believe it or not) Alaska. Then again, two out of three speeding tickets I got in Alaska were on an Army post…

  5. If you had a car capable of it, would it be illegal to drive down the highway in the opposing lane at 70mph in reverse? Backup lights make for good daytime headlights too!

    Well mate, I don’t trust my driving instincts here in the States. So I came up with a compromise!

    2. Things which are illegal but are not enforced: illuminating backup lamps on a GM automobile with the keyless remote.

      There is a law on the books in Wisconsin to the effect that the backup lamps should only be illuminated if the transmission is in the reverse gear.

      Simple enough, but it seems that since the time of the 2008 Global Economic Crisis followed by the GM Bailout, General Motors cars illuminate the backup lamps in response to the keyless remote when the car is very much motionless and not in gear. It is annoying as get-out in a parking garage, whether as a pedestrian or as a driver, to halt because you see backup lamps and then see there is no one in the car.

      Now some people simply ignore backup lamps and either walk across or drive across the path of a car showing them. A person may have the right-of-way, but the whole purpose of the backup lamps is to signal that the car may start to move, and the driver may not yield to you as they should because they have limited visibility in that direction. That is why backup lamps were invented and later mandated.

      To illuminate the backup lamps when the car is not about to back up kind of ruins the whole point of having them. There ought to be a law against such a thing, and wouldn’t you know it, Wisconsin has a such a law. And it is not like I tried to bring this to the attention of either GM or of lawmakers or state officials.

      Yes, there is a law against making a rolling stop, and the Feds are enforcing it against Tesla’s driving automation. Yes, there is also a law, at least in my state, of lighting the backup lamps of a parked car, and don’t start with telling me, “the car is only about to back up if it is not yet in motion and showing both red brake lights and white backup lights.” The fix is in, and this law isn’t being enforced on GM or on GM car owners.

      1. The backup light thing really tees me off. Who thought that was a good idea? I ignore them in parking lots. If someone back into me, that’s between them and their insurance company.

  6. There is a road outside of town that is nearly straight for about 2 miles that includes a half mile downhill stretch (very rare in this area, save for limited access highways) – speed limit was 50. After an accident involving someone going about 75 down the hill, they lowered the speed limit to 45. Almost everyone drives it between 55 and 60, before and after the change.

  7. My only moving violation was for reckless driving. I contacted a lawyer and plea bargained “improper equipment.” This is America, and that’s how it’s done. And yes, the legal fee was more than the fine would have been, but worth it in insurances alone. My mom used to burst into tears when pulled over for speeding. When the cop let her go and we were driving away, she’d wipe her eyes and mutter, “Stupid cocksucker.”

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