One of those "Are otherwise intelligent humans naturally this weird, or did social media make them that way?" threads.

Dumbest conversation in Bluesky history (so far).

"Everyone going the same speed reduces traffic" was what made me nope out. I'm not going to argue about the existence of rush hour traffic.

I was considering posting some links to “how to change lanes safely” instructions from driving schools and insurance companies and the like, and then I thought: nah

Ah you see that's just Big Car lying to you

That got so weird so fast. 😄

you don’t have to swing at every pitch

I get you. I feel like I have some sympathy for the one side but there are some legitimate good points that get ignored like a bunch of folks have only ever read about cars in books but never actually saw one.

We’re a big varied country and what makes perfect sense on I95 heading from NYC to DC cannot be any more different than what it’s like on a 2 lane (total) 75mph road in the middle of nowhere West Texas.

Let me just add that I would _not_ want this administration to be in charge of a bunch of governors and geofenced speed zones. There's a huge potential for abuse here.

💯 Also, this. bsky.app/profile/jda5...

Like what id like is a cruise control setting that I can leave on default that’s just “go the speed limit and no higher if you can, stay 3 car lengths back, and let me override it if I need to.”

My car has that, but the speed limits it has on its maps are a little out of date.

I mean this is basically just adaptive cruise control, right?

Mostly, but without having to manually set it to the speed limit when it changes. Do some cars have this option? On mine I still have to set the cruising speed.

And I have to set it every time. I’d just like a one button cruise default that’s this, basically.

I don't know of any models that automatically adjust for the speed limit, but there are definitely some that can detect what the local speed limit is, so it seems like this would be a relatively easy technical implementation.

I know at least some mercedes models do this.

I think the trouble comes with the fact that speed limits on a given stretch of road can and do change frequently and those models of car don't always pick up on it.

Evergreen page spread from P.D. Eastman's immortal "Go Dog Go!"

Having experienced at least one driving-related hellthread, I can absolutely confirm that Driving Discourse is the true Worst Discourse. It is the true friendship-render, annihilator of peace, subsumer of alliance.

extremely so yes

no longer having to care nearly as much about speed limits and other people's driving behavior is a non-negligible part of the reason why I'm actively looking to move to a more walkable, more transit-rich neighborhood