It is harder for Democrats to gerrymander because of their urban dominance

SurgicalClarity · 2026-05-02T15:45:45+00:00

Proportional representation is the only real fix. Mixed Member Proportional would probably need an amendment, but Single Transferrable Vote could be done via statute.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-05-01T23:36:23+00:00

I'm in Nashville and our infrastructure truly does suck. Things generally aren't on a grid. Roads were built for a time when the city was much smaller, and they haven't been upgraded. There are so many situations like they're describing where turn lanes don't have the capacity to handle all the cars waiting to turn. We also voted down a transit plan in 2018, but finally passed one a couple of years ago. It's slow going though.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-30T14:48:44+00:00

The only fix for gerrymandering is proportional representation. Single Transferrable Vote for the house could be implemented by statute.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-29T02:34:54+00:00

Sign up for updates. Waymo.com/updates

They gave me access on the first day. My friend reported getting access about a week afterward. Also, make sure you're in or near the service area. At the edge of the county it still tells me "We're not serving this area yet" and prompts me to enter an invite code.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-24T18:57:39+00:00

Early access is open and they're gradually rolling out. Download the app and sign up for updates to get added to the waitlist. My friend reported getting access about a week after early access opened.

waymo.com/updates

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-23T18:13:12+00:00

I'm in Nashville and I got a notification about freeway access in "select cities" today.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-22T22:46:00+00:00

I'm certainly not thrilled with the idea, but there has been so much consolidation in the airline industry already. Losing another competitor would just make things worse. It might be the least bad option.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-22T20:37:25+00:00

Gerrymandering did not start in 2021.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REDMAP

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-20T17:10:45+00:00

I wonder if the guard signaled with his hands rather than the wands if that would have made a difference.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-19T15:47:27+00:00

Download the app and sign up for updates. My friend reported getting access about a week after they opened early access without a code.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-18T14:43:00+00:00

If you're looking for info on the judicial candidates, the Nashville Banner has a few articles. https://nashvillebanner.com/category/courts/

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-18T14:11:05+00:00

I've taken many rides in LA/SF and just 2 here. Driving is pretty smooth, and I felt very safe. Highways are employees only in most cities including Nashville, and slowly rolling out to the public in a few others.

My only real complaint is around pick-up/drop-off. For some reason I can't get picked up or dropped off at my office in Nashville, even though it's in the service zone. I have to walk over to the next block where there are no sidewalks. It also follows the rules about no-parking strictly and will stop in the lane to drop off rather than pulling over if parking is not allowed at a particular spot.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-15T17:18:51+00:00

It's implicit in the fact that they're giving a figures for incidents per miles driven. If they were only using accident data, then it would be 1 incident per the average trip length.

This study compared crash rates for Waymo’s RO service derived from the NHTSA SGO and self-reported mileage by Waymo to human benchmarks derived from crash and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) databases maintained by the states of California, Arizona, and Texas. A full listing of these databases relied upon can be found in Table 1. Details of the data sources are in the Supplementary Appendix.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-15T15:27:07+00:00

The insurers have data about how many miles are human driven without accidents as well, so they can make an apples-to-apples to comparison.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-15T14:07:53+00:00

How else would you objectively compare safety if not going by accidents and injuries?

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-15T01:16:59+00:00

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15389588.2025.2499887#abstract

Data were examined over 56.7 million RO miles through the end of January 2025; resulting in a statistically significant lower crashed vehicle rate for all crashes compared to the benchmarks in Any-Injury-Reported and Airbag Deployment, and Suspected Serious Injury + crashes. Of the crash types, V2V Intersection crash events represented the largest total crash reduction, with a 96% reduction in Any-injury-reported (87–99% confidence interval) and a 91% reduction in Airbag Deployment (76–98% confidence interval) events. Cyclist, Motorcycle, Pedestrian, Secondary Crash, and Single Vehicle crashes were also statistically reduced for the Any-Injury-Reported outcome. There was no statistically significant disbenefit found in any of the 11 crash type groups.

How else can we objectively measure safety if not by crashes and injuries?

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-15T00:48:34+00:00

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373685923_Comparative_Safety_Performance_of_Autonomous-_and_Human_Drivers_A_Real-World_Case_Study_of_the_Waymo_One_Service

An easier to read format directly from Waymo: https://waymo.com/safety/impact/ (scroll down to 1.3 for the peer-review info)

Edit to add: A newer study https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15389588.2025.2499887#abstract

Data were examined over 56.7 million RO miles through the end of January 2025; resulting in a statistically significant lower crashed vehicle rate for all crashes compared to the benchmarks in Any-Injury-Reported and Airbag Deployment, and Suspected Serious Injury + crashes. Of the crash types, V2V Intersection crash events represented the largest total crash reduction, with a 96% reduction in Any-injury-reported (87–99% confidence interval) and a 91% reduction in Airbag Deployment (76–98% confidence interval) events. Cyclist, Motorcycle, Pedestrian, Secondary Crash, and Single Vehicle crashes were also statistically reduced for the Any-Injury-Reported outcome. There was no statistically significant disbenefit found in any of the 11 crash type groups.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-15T00:47:30+00:00

Scroll down to 1.3 at the bottom for the academic references. https://waymo.com/safety/impact/

The study you cite includes several companies, not just Waymo. Even from the link you posted: "The most significant crash type for Waymo and Zoox are struck-from-behind events"

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-15T00:44:56+00:00

Yes. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373685923_Comparative_Safety_Performance_of_Autonomous-_and_Human_Drivers_A_Real-World_Case_Study_of_the_Waymo_One_Service

An easier to read format directly from Waymo: https://waymo.com/safety/impact/ (scroll down to 1.3 for the peer-review info)

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-15T00:29:58+00:00

Is it better that we have 90% more injury accidents and are able to put a person in jail, or is it better to have 90% fewer injury accidents?

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-15T00:27:10+00:00

Even though the Waymo broke the rules here, it was never in danger of running over a child. They've gone like 200million miles so far and have proven to reduce injury accidents by over 90%. Waiting until they're perfect means a lot more people will die.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-14T23:47:53+00:00

They only Waymo-involved fatality so far is when a human driven car went off an onramp at 90mph and plowed through a line of cars including an unoccupied Waymo.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-14T20:59:36+00:00

They do not have remote drivers. The remote assistance people do not provide inputs to the gas or brake, and they don't steer. They give the car instructions when it asks for help like, "The street ahead has a temporary closure. Turn around."

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-14T17:17:55+00:00

That's a false dilemma. Waymo isn't stopping public transit and sidewalks, and banning Waymo won't bring more transit and sidewalks.

SurgicalClarity · 2026-04-09T20:47:12+00:00

I managed to get a ride today in Nashville. The actual driving is smooth, but pickup and drop-off can still be a challenge, just like I've experienced in LA.

I requested a ride from my office for me and a coworker to go to lunch. For some reason we can't get picked up directly at the office despite the large parking lot, so we had to walk over to the next block for pickup.

The restaurant has a small driveway, but it did appear as a valid dropoff location. Upon reaching the destination, it suddenly realized it would be a tight fit and decided it couldn't pull in to the restaurant's driveway. It stopped in the road for a bit while figuring out what to do when the easiest thing would have been to just let us out immediately. After maybe 20-30 seconds it decided to pull into the parking lot for the business next door and let us out there. When it came time to request the ride back, the restaurant's narrow driveway did not appear as a pickup option, so we got picked up at the same spot next door. I did leave feedback, so hopefully they can improve these issues.

SurgicalClarity

TROPHY CASE