Procedurally generated driving game

Sometimes you need to slow down and go on a drive with no destination. Slow Roads by anslo is a procedurally generated game that lets you do that. Choose the scene, the road complexity, the weather, the time of day, planet, and vehicle. Then just drive.

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Car cost vs. emissions

Based on estimates from the MIT Trancik Lab, The New York Times plotted average carbon dioxide emissions against average cost per month for electric, hybrid, and gas vehicles. Each dot represents a vehicle type. While electric vehicles cost more upfront, the lower maintenance and electric costs make up the difference in the long run.

The chart above only shows vehicles that retail for $55,000 or less, but you can see more vehicles in the original version.

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Quietest highway route in each state

Geotab made a rough estimate of the quietest route in each state, based on average traffic. The methodology:

To find the quietest road in each US state, we gathered the latest available (2015) traffic count data from the Highway Performance Monitoring System. Quietness was calculated as the annual average daily traffic (AADT, measured in # of vehicles), and routes with the lowest AADT in each state were deemed the quietest. Lengths of routes were gathered from local transport authorities in each state. The data covers Interstates, US Routes, and State Routes over 10 miles long.

I feel like they should’ve normalized by length of route, especially since they had it already. But hey, I’m always down for some peace and quiet.

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When cycling is faster than driving

Deliveroo is a service that picks up and delivers food. Data from their delivery riders showed that it was faster to ride a bike than other modes of transportation in cities. Carlton Reid for Forbes:

Smartphone data from riders and drivers schlepping meals for restaurant-to-home courier service Deliveroo shows that bicycles are faster than cars. In towns and cities, bicyclists are also often faster than motorized two-wheelers. Deliveroo works with 30,000 riders and drivers in 13 countries.

That bicyclists are faster in cities will come as no surprise to bicycle advocates who have staged so-called “commuter races” for many years. However, these races – organized to highlight the swiftness of urban cycling – are usually staged in locations and at hours skewed towards bicycle riders. The Deliveroo stats are significant because they have been extracted from millions of actual journeys.

I used to play this game in graduate school often. The bus would get stuck in traffic. I would get off and walk home instead in the most thrilling races the world has ever seen. So for cities, these results make a lot of sense. Maybe not so much for the burbs though.

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Cheap labor to power artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence, given its name, sounds like a computer learns everything its own. However, a set of algorithms can only become useful if there’s something to learn from: data. Dave Lee for BBC reports on a company in Kenya that supplies training data for self-driving cars:

Brenda loads up an image, and then uses the mouse to trace around just about everything. People, cars, road signs, lane markings – even the sky, specifying whether it’s cloudy or bright. Ingesting millions of these images into an artificial intelligence system means a self-driving car, to use one example, can begin to “recognise” those objects in the real world. The more data, the supposedly smarter the machine.

On the one hand it sounds like tedious work on the cheap, but on the other it provides people with more opportunities that were previously unavailable.

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A visual recreation of the Porsche driving experience

Porsche Blackbox

This is beautiful work by digital art and design studio onformative. They recreate the driving experience with racing data from various tracks.

This work uses original recorded racing data and reports to create a soundscape and abstract visualization of a car through lines and subtle silhouettes. Datasets originate from the Porsche GTS community, collecting recorded tracks from all over the world. These datasets define the dramaturgy of the conceptual scenes to recreate the most dynamic moments of the user’s experience as an interactive webGL visualization.

As you approach a more exciting part of a track, the silhouette of the car grows more distinct as more particles fly across. Pause the animation at any time to rotate to a point of view, and use the slider on the bottom to scrub to a specific part of the drive.

The video below shows the visualization in action.

This doesn’t give it justice though. Give it a try here with your headphones on.

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Getting there Safely—Avoid Driving Disasters

road with dark cloudsFrom weekend getaways to cross-country road trips, people spend countless hours driving each year. Despite the confidence you may feel behind the wheel, there are some situations where driving is not a safe option for anyone. The weather can cause especially dangerous driving conditions, often putting a driver and their passengers in unexpected and risky situations.

As you plan your summer travel, be informed and be prepared.

Keeping an emergency kit in your car is the best way to prepare for any type of emergency on the road.  Include items like a first aid kit, jumper cables, tools (like a roadside emergency kit), and maps in your emergency car kit. For a full list of items to include in your car kit visit, CDC’s Get Supplies webpage.

Here are some tips on what to do when driving through severe weather and what to do if disaster occurs when you are on the road.Warning Traffic Sign On Flooded Road

Severe Rain or Floods

Heavy rainfall can quickly make driving dangerous – from slippery roads to not being able to see very far in front of you.  If you get caught in a storm, remember your hazard lights and know when you need to pull over to a safe spot. If you cannot clearly see the road or road signs and signal, pull over to a safe location and leave your hazard lights on. Listen to the weather report and get to a safe location if the weather it predicted to get worse.

After a heavy rain, be aware of flooding in the area and avoid roads that may be covered in water. NEVER drive through flood waters—the water could be deeper then it appears. Six inches of water can cause you to lose control of your car, and a foot of water can sweep most cars away.  Turn around, don’t drown!

Tornado

If there is a possibility of tornadoes in your area, avoid driving. The last place you want to be in a tornado is in a motor vehicle. Cars, buses and trucks are easily tossed by tornado winds. Do NOT try to outrun a tornado in your car. If a tornado watch or warning is issued in your area while you are in your car, immediately find a building to take shelter. If you see a tornado, stop your vehicle and get to a secure location, low to the ground and protected from flying debris if possible. Do not get under your vehicle.

Earthquakes

Traffic cones on the cracked asphalt roadIf you are in your car during an earthquake, stop quickly and safely. If possible, move your car away from the shoulder or curb, avoid stopping on or under an overpass and move away from utility poles and overhead wires. Remain in your car and turn on your parking break. Your car may shake violently on its shocks, but it is a good place to remain until the shaking stops. If a power line falls on your car, call 911 or an emergency line for help, and stay inside until a trained person removes the wire. Also, tune into your local radio for emergency broadcast information on possible aftershocks and road damage caused by the earthquake. When driving after an earthquake watch for hazards, such as breaks in the pavement, downed utility poles and wires, rising water levels, fallen overpasses, and collapsed bridges.

Extreme Heat           

Cars can get hot very quickly, especially if they are sitting in the sun. During a very hot day and even with the windows open, interior temperatures can rise significantly when a car is parked. Anyone left inside a car when an area is experiencing extreme heat is at risk for serious heat-related illnesses or even death. Children and pets that are left unattended in parked cars are at greatest risk for health related illness. Never leave infants, children, older adults or pets in a parked car, even if the windows are cracked open. When leaving your car, check to be sure everyone is out of the car.

Take all the precautions you can to ensure you get to your destination safely, and never attempt to drive through dangerous travel conditions. Bad weather can strike unexpectedly, so be prepared by staying informed and having an emergency kit in your car.