
Could Letting Drivers Communicate via LED Screen Help Quell Road Rage? - 80mph
https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/led-screen-road-rage/
======
emptybits
Candidate buyers:

1\. Ragers. Not known for their apologies. So screw them. They don't need
another tool to communicate their rage.

2\. Recipients of rage. Is this so they can offer an apology? Surely nobody
believes they need to apologize for their driving frequently enough to buy and
install such a device. And if they want to respond to the rager with a
plausible defense message, well, that's _not_ going to quell a rager!

3\. Those who want to broadcast an undirected opinion. Mod the device to
bypass the 50 sanitized preset messages and you can show everyone your
political beliefs, meme, or pithy quote. So basically dynamic LED bumper
stickers. Free speech, fine, but more distraction. Yawn.

~~~
_Microft
Maybe earn some money by running ads on it? _Big mistake / many make / rely on
horn / instead of brake. Burma Shave_

~~~
squarefoot
Adblockers (black tape) sold at intersections in 3... 2... 1... :+)

edit: and trolling messages through black tape with profanities using the same
fonts.

------
grumblepeet
I could have used this today. I was travelling up a single track road near
Glastonbury in Somerset when I came across a very large camper van stuck
blocking the entire road. There was nothing else for it but for me to reverse
for 1/4 mile back to the main road where the road widened. However every car
that came up behind was flashing their lights angrily and couldnt get what I
was trying to do. Some LED's with a message relayed back to the first car
could have saved a lot of anger and time.

Trouble is, the UK Police and authorities are against even hands free phones
([https://inews.co.uk/news/technology/hands-free-mobile-
phones...](https://inews.co.uk/news/technology/hands-free-mobile-phones-while-
driving-could-be-banned-mps-plans/)) , let alone a mechanism to communicate
visually with other drivers. I could see it getting banned here before it even
takes off, which is a shame.

~~~
sandworm101
>> I could see it getting banned here before it even takes off, which is a
shame.

Maybe in the UK, but there are some interesting legal debates to be had. This
is a freedom of speech issue. This is an electronic bumper sticker, one that
can be changed on the fly but still a form of speech.

See Kovacs v. Cooper, 336 U.S. 77 (1949) for the debate re "sound trucks",
vehicles with PA systems for making public announcements. They upheld the ban,
but it wasn't a simple case. Freedom of speech goes a long way. A silent sign
that can only be seen by a handful of cars behind you? Imho the 1949 court
would have allowed it.

~~~
gambiting
The only reason why it would be banned in the EU is if the display was made
out of Red or Blue LEDs - you cannot have any lights in those colours that are
not already part of the factory equipment(that law exists to prevent people
from having flashing red and blue lights and impersonating police cars).

If the display was made out of white or green LEDs then I can only assume
there would be no issue using such device.

------
zxcvbn4038
I predict this would lead to “road trolling” which would probably end up
causing more road rage. A better solution, without giving up privacy, might be
a social system of flagging people for unsafe driving, aggressive driving,
etc. Set the threshold really high. You don’t want to take action against the
old lady who inconvenienced everyone by breaking down in a turn lane one day,
you want the ones who day after day get flagged. I imagine everyone would
drive a lot nicer if there were consequences to aggressive driving. Just like
everyone wants to play nice suddenly when the cops are around. Boldest speed
demon in the world suddenly finds he can drive 55 after all.

~~~
gruez
> A better solution, without giving up privacy, might be a social system of
> flagging people for unsafe driving, aggressive driving, etc. [...] I imagine
> everyone would drive a lot nicer if there were consequences to aggressive
> driving.

And what's the consequence if you got flagged? I find it disconcerting for the
government to dole out punishments based on (what is essentially) downvotes
from random people. How can you ensure those flagged people are getting due
process?

~~~
belltaco
There are several things that can be done without too harsh of consequences
that it'd need a watertight due process.

First is positive reinforcement, let people "upvote" others for good driving
etiquette, then give the top 0.1% or whatever a special decal to display on
their plate, or a special plate. Fakes are enforced by when, if you're ever
pulled over, the officer looks up whether you were entitled to that decal and
then a hefty fine if you faked it. Or maybe even officers just randomly noting
down the plates to later check if it was legit, can even enforce it via
existing traffic rules enforcement cameras and in both cases, fines are
imposed like redlight cameras do now. Maybe even allow the driver to share the
designation with their insurance company which may decide to reduce their
rates.

Another way would be to send some nastygrams via snail mail to the worst 1% or
so, "you were voted the worst 1% of drivers by your peers". However without
any other negative consequences, this might be gamed i.e "I'm so badass that I
got this letter", leading to some people trying to get those letters. Since
the tagging is by car, maybe give access to the insurance companies to the
very worst offending cars to raise the rates for insurance on that _car_, not
the driver associated with it, since someone else could be driving it.

------
TeMPOraL
I want a sign that keeps flashing "YOU ARE TOO CLOSE" when someone comes
closer than N meters, where N is roughly my speed in km/h divided by 10. My
number one annoyance on roads in Poland is that a lot of drivers don't give a
damn about safe distance. It's not fun when you're driving 90 km/h with a
small kid in the back and have another car stuck 2 meters behind you.

------
donarb
This is about as dumb as training kindergarteners to hide during a school
shooting. It doesn't address the root problem, angry people who can't handle
their emotions in public.

~~~
gfodor
A proximate cause is that other drivers are depersonalized since you see them
“embodied” as a car. I think if these could be used to humanize other drivers
that would help address that issue. For example, using these signs to say what
you are doing eg “going to grandmas!” or who you are eg “just a tired parent,
sorry for any bad driving!” would lighten the mood and hopefully trigger
empathy in other drivers.

------
tyingq
It doesn't appear to be using LEDs intended for outdoor brightness. I suspect
it won't be very readable during the day, especially given most cars have
tinted rear windows.

------
berti
BP is currently distributing a thumbs up display along these lines in New
Zealand [0]. I've yet to see one in the wild.

[0] [https://www.bp.com/en_nz/new-zealand/home/products-and-
servi...](https://www.bp.com/en_nz/new-zealand/home/products-and-
services/promotions-and-rewards/thank-you-button.html)

------
kylek
It'd probably just used to give people a giant ascii finger.

~~~
NikkiA
I'd expect "8======D" more often tbh, but it's not going to end well either
way.

~~~
pteraspidomorph
I think the idea is to only let people use preprogrammed messages (this also
helps with the language barrier). So only inane, pleasant sentiments like "Go
for it!" "My fault." "Wow!" "Oops." "Whew!" "What a save!" No one would manage
to be passive-aggressive using a system like this. No, sir or madam. It would
be impossible.

~~~
kylek
Calculated.

------
swayvil
We will communicate purely in emojis, obviously. No words necessary. A square
of LED hieroglyph expressing annoyance, sorrow, gratitude, yes I want fries
with that, etc.

Imagine it. Doesn't it feel totally natural?

------
badrabbit
I have tought of this before. Maybe a "HuD" display (with dash mounted lcd as
an alternate) where not just other drivers but the road and traffic
authorities communicate things to the driver. Like tell them what lanes to
stay on based on destination,real time info about the current lane,notify
users when they drive too slow/fast for their lane and communicate other
drivers intent and much more...except define it as international protocol
standard.

------
dabbledash
If it’s just a button that flashes “Sorry!” then maybe. Anything beyond that
will a) create distraction for the driver and / or b) just be used to say “go
fuck yourself”

~~~
Dzugaru
Don't know about other countries, but in Russia we say sorry all the time
flashing hazard lights briefly. Pretty much every driver on the road knows
that.

~~~
Teckla
This is a great idea. Every once in a while, I want to say "I'm sorry" to
someone in another car, and I'm not sure how. Currently, I wave and grimace,
but I'm not sure that gets the message across.

I wonder what it would take for something like this to spread across the globe
as the standard way to say "I'm sorry" to someone in another vehicle.

------
Havoc
Someone is smoking their socks.

Car twitter is the last thing we need both from distraction point of view &
just de-escalating situations.

------
kgwxd
Drivers need less distractions, not more. Unless cars start requiring copilots
to operate, stop adding "features".

------
orev
This is highly unsafe and possibly illegal. You cannot have a metal box (or
anything with more mass than a few sheets of paper) suction cupped to the
window as it will detach and smash the back of your head in an accident,
probably killing you.

------
nanomonkey
I've often thought that it would be nice to have a chording keyboard on my
steering wheel or shifter so that I could type while driving. Sending those
messages to a screen, or to the car directly via radio transmission would be
an interesting advancement.

------
age_bronze
I could see a use a screen saying, I'm travelling as fast as the guy after me,
so back off. It's so annoying to be after those drivers that can't seem to
understand it's not your fault that you're driving so slow.

~~~
marble-drink
That's only OK if you do actually plan to overtake the guy in front of you. If
not you should leave enough room for the guy behind you to overtake you. It's
really annoying when people sit with no space but don't overtake.

------
username3
Bumper sticker: sorry in advance.

~~~
samstave
Front bumper sticker in reverse font to be read bu rearview mirror:

“Please get out the way/this lane/go faster”

~~~
AstralStorm
Bonus points if you're breaking the law, as seen in most "fast" drivers.
Easily seen as "idiot on the lane, get out".

~~~
samstave
Ooohhh i have an idea:

Put a bunch of actual police plate numbers on bumper stickers...

(Recall police plate numbers never contain letters) just numbers.

Put these numbers all over your bumper and see if you get a tocket going
through a toll

(Keep your actuallly legal plate and tags on the car, just tesf which ones
they pickup first)

------
indentit
this isn't anything new - see CarWink[1] from 2 years ago for example. I
didn't become a backer of that kickstarter iirc because one couldn't make
their own graphics or translate the text for non-English speaking countries
etc.

[1]: [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/503429569/carwink-
makin...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/503429569/carwink-making-the-
road-a-more-connected-place)

------
samdunham
Have these people never seen Twitter?!?

------
AznHisoka
I would just like a horn that can blow to the car in back of me. thanks.

------
m-p-3
Can't wait to see someone mod this and display expletives on it.

~~~
LocalH
"Messages include common driving phrases and an option you can customize."

Looks like no modding needed, unless the thing has a profanity filter, in
which case boo

------
krallja
Have you seen a Facebook thread recently? This can only end poorly.

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sys_64738
How about training drivers to not be dumbasses instead?

------
samstave
There was one of these for sale years ago. You put it in rear window and you
could scroll messages along it.

------
Terretta
Well, letting hackers communicate on a moderated HN still doesn’t quell nerd
rage.

So what we really need is rude driver shadow-banning, using “SEP Field”
technology from the Hitchhiker’s Guide:

 _”An SEP is something we can 't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let
us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem. That’s what SEP
means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind
spot.”_

PS. See also, Betteridge’s Law of Headlines.

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egypturnash
Betteridge's Law of Headlines strikes again!

