{"id":401382,"date":"2010-03-07T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-07T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"Gizmodo-5487564"},"modified":"2010-03-07T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-03-07T20:00:00","slug":"road-train-autopilot-saves-money-would-mercifully-restore-driving-while-texting-road-train","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/401382","title":{"rendered":"Road Train Autopilot Saves Money, Would Mercifully Restore Driving-While-Texting [Road Train]"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was only a matter of time before some compulsive texter found a way to get text messaging and driving together again. Called the Road Train<\/a>, it’s mean to save fuel, but we know it’s true purpose, don’t we? [BBC<\/a>]<\/p>\n

The Road Train is based on drafting, that age-old technique that NASCAR drivers use to make passing easier and that those suicidal Mythbusters proved was legit<\/a> when they coasted 10 feet behind a big rig at constant velocity.<\/p>\n

In this case, however, the system is automated. Cars opt in and opt out at the driver’s convenience, forming a moving, amorphous “train” of vehicles that maintain constant speed and distance form one another thanks to software.<\/p>\n

Unlike many cool ideas\/concepts, this one is actually being tested, right now, in Europe by Ricardo UK.<\/p>\n

The three-year trial will see seven wireless-linked vehicles traveling the continent as part of an attempt to achieve a 20% fuel consumption reduction per vehicle. Reduced travel times and congestion are also goals.<\/p>\n

And don’t forget texting. We may soon return to a world where texting while driving is just obnoxious, not deadly, as it is today. [BBC<\/a> via Treehugger<\/a>]<\/p>\n



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It was only a matter of time before some compulsive texter found a way to get text messaging and driving together again. Called the Road Train, it’s mean to save fuel, but we know it’s true purpose, don’t we? [BBC] The Road Train is based on drafting, that age-old technique that NASCAR drivers use to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1581,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,7,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy","category-news","category-wireless"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1581"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}