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From: Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid>
Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design
Subject: Re: energy in UK
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2025 03:17:33 -0700
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On 4/22/2025 12:55 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
> On 2025-04-21 01:13, Don Y wrote:
>> On 4/20/2025 11:42 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
>>>> So, it alerts other traffic to your presence.  But, it doesn't fix
>>>> your problem, does it?  Or, does it summon "roadside assistance"?
>>>
>>> It is anonymous, that's an important feature so that people don't get 
>>> paranoid. But you can register a phone app that talks to it, if you want.
>>
>> So, its value to YOU is in making your "disablement" visible to
>> oncoming traffic -- without having to expose your body to an
>> assault.  If you were NOT inclined to "set out flares" (the original
>> version of the "triangles"), then you likely wouldn't bother with
>> this, either.
> 
> AFAIK, flares have never been used here.

They were common when I was younger.  I think most people now use reflective
or flashing indicators.  I don't know of any that "phone home", though.

> My father used nothing, nothing was mandatory or recommended. Put on the 
> lights: not the blinkers both left and right, cars did not have that feature. 
> In an accident, it was recommended for another car to park perpendicular to the 
> scene and illuminate it with his headlights.
> 
> Triangles became recommended and then mandatory after I got my driving license.

I don't think we have any such regulation.  Common sense tells you to
pull over as far as possible and put some sort of signalling marker
out (they sell LED blinkers for hazards on the idea that you don't need
to use flares)

We are cautioned to NOT touch the brake pedal when we pull over in a
haboob as that illuminates the brake lights and "draws" other drivers
to align with your off-the-road vehicle (without stopping).

> If you set neither triangles not beacon, and they find you, you get fined.

Again, I don't think that is the case, here.

>>> So the authorities get information at somewhere about all active beacons at 
>>> a given time, and they can dispatch the police to go have a look. There is 
>>> no promise that they do. But those electronic panels on the roads that tell 
>>> you "accident ahead" should activate. Also information on car navigators 
>>> like a TomTom (I did not see it).
>>
>> So, its secondary value to you is in alerting you of traffic problems
>> before you find yourself "stuck" in them.
> 
> Yep. But I don't know if this part is working yet.
> 
>>
>>> I don't know if that emergency room is yet built and active.
>>>
>>>> If you have to exit the vehicle to check under the hood or
>>>> replace a tire, you are still at risk and a potential distraction
>>>> ("rubber-neckers" -- gawkers)
>>>
>>> Certainly. Just my case.
>>>
>>> But there have been a bunch of people killed while they were just setting 
>>> the triangles. The authorities thought that the beacon would help with those.
>>
>> Yes.  Motorists (and police officers) standing on roadways -- even far
>> off on the shoulder -- are regularly hit/killed by morons who have their
>> heads up their ass instead of eyes on the road!
> 
> Indeed.

I think gawking "draws" the car (subconsiously) in the direction of the
driver's gaze.  There are numerous video examples of police officers
at the side of the road having to jump out of the way of an "uninvolved"
driver who veered off the road THERE... instead of a "mile" earlier, etc.

> It seems to happen more in the urban highways of Madrid, not so much on the 
> long distance highways. In the former, traffic is going to/from work/home, and 
> are mostly city folk, not necessarily used to long distance driving on highways.
> 
> Accidents seem to happen mostly near home, people feel safe and less alert.

Yes.

>> We had a young mother struck and killed while pushing her infant daughter
>> in a stroller (tram?) on the side of the road.  Some young kid who
>> felt it was more important to adjust the car stereo than drive the car...
> 
> Sigh.
> 
> Here people standing on the road have to mandatorily wear reflective vests. 
> Some are hit precisely while putting it on.
> 
> In that situation, I keep my eye on incoming traffic.

We have no such "requirements".  It boils down to "common sense" (for the
pedestrians who stand the most to lose!)

In the cited case, the woman was walking her child along the side of the road
(if there are no sidewalks in an area, this is where you walk) and happened
to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.