# roboroads: limit human-driven cars to 45 kmph
Self driving cars are all the rage nowadays. Currently they can be used only in a very limited manner but I'm convinced they will eventually catch on. Perhaps not in the current form in which they need very high tech sensors, computation, and AI decision-making to ensure safety.
Rather, I expect that over time they become more like trains: they can travel on predetermined roads only. Roads will be augmented with some cheap standard technology that the cars can follow not unlike train tracks. Thanks to computers, the car already knows how the road looks like and where it can go and where it cannot. This could be augmented with extra safety ideas such as robocars needing to follow special robocar-specific road paint or something. Let's call these augmented roads as roboroads. All major roads and highways would be roboroads.
What about AI-driving on non-roboroads? The speed limit should be 25 kmph due to the increased risks. So I'd still allow robocars off-road or without the safety-paint but at a reduced speed.
Should humans be allowed to drive? One problem is that if we accept human drivers then we must accommodate them. They have much slower reaction time: the biggest problem is during traffic jams. Often in takes a second or two for the driver to notice that they have a green light and now they are wasting extra 2 seconds from everyone's life. The additional reaction times add up and make the jams worse. AI driven cars wouldn't have this problem so I think humans should be eventually eliminated from roboroads. Or at least require special permission, e.g. for farmers who often travel with weird contraptions on the roads.
Once robot cars are common place, limit human driving to 45 kmph. Traffic accidents cause significant amount of human suffering. Limiting the speed will reduce that. Leave high speed traffic on predetermined roads that only machines can follow with high precision and safety.
If you have only robocars on roboroads then you can do even crazier things. Suppose you have a 5-lane highway. You could change the direction of the middle lane dynamically from a central service! It's often the case that you need more flow in one direction in the morning and in the other direction in the evening. This could then increase the flow of traffic as demand needs, not unlike trains. This can be done safely too: the only cars that can enter the middle lane are the ones that support the central service's protocol. Your car enters the middle lane without permission then your car gets a fine.
In high density city areas it shouldn't even be allowed to travel at a speed larger than 45 kmph except on underground train tracks. Let the surface life be low noise and low-risk!
Go further: don't allow roboroads in cities. All driving must be done manually without assistance. Humans in the city should not be able to isolate themselves into metal cages and zone out. They should drive so that surface life remains interactions between humans rather than humans vs machines.
If you allow robocars in cities then they would often go without any passengers just to find a parking place. This would add unnecessary traffic, noise, energy demand, and wear to the cities. And people might stop respecting the robocars and jaywalk in front of them. To combat this the robocars will record jaywalkers and report them to the police. This leads to more surveillance and societal distrust and I don't like that.
Go even further: limit vehicle speeds in high density areas to 25 kmph. Choosing a car will be then slower than choosing a bike! People will then be intrinsically motivated to pick better transportation alternatives. Maybe then we will need less car infrastructure. Roads could become one way. The unused half would be converted to greenery: low-maintenance grass and trees. There would be more nature and joy in our lives!
Well... one can dream.
published on 2025-05-26
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