Drive, she said

This week it’s all about moving around, as Cecil discusses driverless cars, mass transit, and riding [The Straight Dope] Drive, she said By [The Straight Dope]( • Issue #25 • [View online]( This week it’s all about moving around, as Cecil discusses driverless cars, mass transit, and riding your bicycle against traffic. Threadspotting The best of the Straight Dope Message Board  June 25, 2020: [And the rockets red glare, the corn bursting in air.]( Straight Dope Classic: June 17, 1986 [If you turn on your headlights while driving at the speed of light, what happens?]( Dear Cecil:  If you’re driving your car at the speed of light and put your headlights on, what happens? — Rob M., Sausalito, California Cecil replies:  Man, what are you guys in Sausalito on, anyway? As anyone with even the most tenuous grasp of the theory of relativity knows, the speed of light is constant for any inertial observer. Does that answer your question? I didn’t think so. Let me put it another way.  [Click here to keep reading](. Straight Dope Classic: July 7, 2017 [Is mass transit a waste of energy]( Dear Cecil: Are electric trains and other forms of mass transit an energy loser compared to driving a car? What with energy transmission costs and poor ridership (especially in California), we supposedly waste energy on subways and buses. I know it’s not going to be a popular concept, and it may be best to ignore it, and hopefully encourage more utilization of mass transit rather than discourage it. — Dano Cecil replies: Not following you, Dano. You’re saying we should encourage transit use even if it wastes energy because transit is inherently cool? This is a questionable policymaking aim. However, confusing claims on this subject are widespread. Consider the following. [Click here to keep reading](. Straight Dope Classic: January 15, 2010 [How soon can we expect driverless cars]( Dear Cecil:  People talk as if self-driving cars are only a few years away. This seems nuts to me. My Galaxy smartphone can’t even do voice recognition properly, and we’re banking that a car will be able to drive itself safely in the complexity of city traffic?  — Astro, via the Straight Dope Message Board Cecil replies: You may not expect to see self-driving cars on the road soon, but you know who does? Ford, for one, which plans to release a fully autonomous vehicle by 2021. BMW says the same thing. Audi wants to debut one by 2020; Volkswagen, by 2019. Like objects in your passenger-side mirror, the future may in fact be closer than it appears. Still, you’ve got a point. Editor’s Note, 2020: Looks like you will have to wait a bit longer. Recent estimates claim it may be as long as 12 years before driverless cars are a reality.   [Click here to keep reading](. Did you enjoy this issue? [The Straight Dope]( By [The Straight Dope]( Fighting ignorance since 1973. (It's taking longer than we thought.) [Tweet](    [Share]( If you don't want these updates anymore, please unsubscribe [here](. If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe [here](. Powered by [Revue](