this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2025
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Fuck Cars

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[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 82 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I've been saying for years "self driving cars are solving the wrong problem". The problem isn't that I have to steer my car. The problem is I need a fucking car to go anywhere worth going.

[–] vivalapivo@lemmy.today 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

But then this problem will be solved for those who can't afford it. This is simply not fair to those who are hardworking to earn their salary

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] vivalapivo@lemmy.today 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] Soup@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Obvious enough, but people are crazy and I’ve seen people here with even worse opinions.

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[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 63 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (13 children)

I saw a video recently by a car enthusiast who hates the idea of self driving cars for a novel reason.

Even if self-driving cars are safer than people it won’t stop bad owners. People who drive with unsafe mechanical issues they can’t or won’t get fixed are still going to exist, and bald tires and worn brakes would eliminate any potential safety benefits of self driving.

And by further removing people from the operation of a car, you’re making them worse owners. They won’t know what a worn tie rod bushing would feel like because they never steer. Making cars into appliances just makes them less safe.

He also made a point that I agree with: If we get people who don’t want to drive off the road, the roads would be nicer for people who do want to drive.

[–] PunnyName@lemmy.world 20 points 3 weeks ago

Back when I used to agree with Mush, he said something I still agree with, "you don't want flying cars, because you don't want a poorly maintained car to fly around and lose a hubcap".

[–] scott@lemmy.org 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Also having worked in the industry the "if" in "Even if self-driving cars are safer than people" is carrying the weight of the sun. You might be able to get them safer than humans in a specific subset of circumstances but I would never trust one.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

If they could have made anything self driving already it’d be trains, but we still don’t have fully automated trains

[–] Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world 17 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yes we do. REM in Montréal, skytrain in Vancouver

[–] naught101@lemmy.world 9 points 3 weeks ago

I think the Sydney metro partially is too. But that is easier because it doesn't cross any roads, or have many branching connection.

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 9 points 3 weeks ago

Maybe you don't, but in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, we have it for decades.

[–] PunnyName@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

SEATAC has em, that was an interesting experience 10 years ago.

[–] SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz 12 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

I somewhat disagree with this. If you can feel worn tires, brakes, or suspension bushings, it's easy to imagine the car feeling them and raising a service alert, and locking out if not appropriately serviced.

Vendor lock-in and enshittification, baby.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Imagine getting in your car and it refusing to drive you anywhere because the wear sensor on the brake pads is bad, but everything else is fine.

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[–] nbailey@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Certain things are fairly easy to detect like wheel imbalance vibration or a bad muffler sounds. but there’s so many “vibes plus experience” things that I don’t think software will catch. The human brain is exceptionally good at picking signal out of noise, and “feeling” a bad set of tires or an old timer being able to “hear” how healthy your motor is, aren’t really things you can teach an algorithm.

I’m sure somebody will try to predict failures, but it might not go well. Surely it will be used to gouge consumers, and of course the owners of self-driving cars won’t know any better.

[–] TheRedSpade@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Could we stop saying that computers "could never do" things? It always gets proven wrong. Anything we can detect as humans has some physical reason that we can detect it. Sensors can detect it more effectively. To suggest that you can't program a computer to know what those sensors are supposed to be reading is just absurd.

[–] SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz 7 points 3 weeks ago

Airliner engines are getting to ludicrous reliability numbers (the latest generation appears to be closing in on 10M hours between inflight shutdowns) largely through predictive maintenance performed far in advance. We're well past 'most pilots never see an engine failure' and approaching 'most airlines don't see an engine failure'.

And there are few locations more abusive to sensors than the hot section of a turbine engine.

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[–] paranoia@feddit.dk 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

People who drive with unsafe mechanical issues they can’t or won’t get fixed are still going to exist, and bald tires and worn brakes would eliminate any potential safety benefits of self driving.

In European nations we just inspect the shit out of every car to ensure safety. The car must be mechanically satisfactory and have adequate brakes, tyres, etc.

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[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

So many times watching a car crash video, someone hydroplanes through a puddle …. my first reaction is I bet they live somewhere without safety inspections and those tires are bald

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[–] rizzothesmall@sh.itjust.works 24 points 3 weeks ago (7 children)

I'm hearing you want continental Europe

[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

Shame that they don't want me. ;_;

* exceptions may apply

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[–] ssfckdt@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Or even

Wait for it

SELF DRIVING TRANSIT

Which yes is already a thing too

[–] rimjob_rainer@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 3 weeks ago

And much easier to implement than self driving cars

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[–] TerranFenrir@lemmy.ca 10 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Self driving buses though can be very useful!

No labor cost to drive the bus means it suddenly becomes a lot cheaper to operate buses with less capacity. Meaning, more frequent buses in low density neighborhoods.

[–] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 29 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

Lets go a step farther and put that bus on tracks, which will make it even easier and safer to implement self driving.

[–] mapleseedfall@lemmy.world 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

maybe we can connect multiple busses together and that way it can carry more on the same track!

[–] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago

Tram systems could be made that simple as adding capacity is just add another tram car to the link onto certain routes. We do also need trains but trams serve a more localized purpose, which often make up the majority of someone's trips

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Hear me out:

We give them road specifically for them, make them self driving, give them lidar and whatever sensor to be safe, paint a specific coloured line on the route, direct them to only self-drive on that line so no deviation = no worry with traffic, and call them well-trained bus.

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[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Tracks are cool but kinda difficult to cover the suburbs with them!

[–] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 14 points 3 weeks ago (19 children)

You know what, you're right.

We should knock down the suburbs and use that land for sustainable energy generation, food production, or let it re-wild to support conservation efforts!

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[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 5 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

You just need regular, quick service within bicycle/motorbike range. There's unmanned platforms in Japan that have a daily ridership of literally 2 people, usually the same person taking the train to work.

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[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

somebody should do a compilation including data about:

  • the costs of public transport against private cars, for the whole city
  • the space consumption for parking your private cars in a city compared to the space consumption for all public transport vehicles

and make a statistics and post it here

[–] Bashnagdul@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago

They have (I've seen them, but don't have a link sorry) and car free or semi car free with good bike and public infrastructure is almost always cheaper and more efficient

[–] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] Metype@pawb.social 8 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, public transit so common and part of day-to-day it's unremarkable and boring.

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