Episode 30: Speed Limits + Should Robotaxis Have to Follow the Law?

Speed Limits - David & Wes talk about speed limits: what they can do, what they can’t do, and the surprisingly complicated question of how robotaxis should handle them. Japan is moving toward lower speed limits on a large share of its roads, shifting many streets from 60 km/h to 30 km/h. That sounds simple enough, but speed is never just the number on the sign. It looks different from behind the windshield, in the crosswalk, inside a traffic study, or at the moment of impact. From there, David & Wes get into the 85th percentile, why traffic engineering has often treated driver comfort as data, and whether AVs should strictly follow the law, move with traffic, or behave the way human drivers actually do.

Topics include:
🔹 Car commercials that made us mad (or happy)
🔹 Why speed feels different from inside and outside the car
🔹 The 85th percentile trap
🔹 Robotaxis, speed limits, and the weirdness of legal compliance
🔹 And send us your Look Both Ways sticker ideas!

Subscribe for biweekly conversations about all things transportation.

Additional resources:
How Japan Won its ‘Traffic War’ (David’s article in Bloomberg)

Japan halves speed limit to 30km/h on all narrow city streets

Saturn “Sheet Metal” commercial from 2003

Everybody loves the Ford Ranger commercial from 1995

GM “Stop pedaling…start driving” advertisement from 2011

Dodge Charger Empty Streets Superbowl commercial from 2018

Nissan Sentra “Bob” commercial from 1990

VW “Think Small” commercial from 1959

Volkswagen 0-60? Yes. advertisement from 1998

Music by Charlie Van Stee
(courtesy of bensound)

Email us at lookbothwayspod@gmail.com or find us at www.lookbothwayspodcast.com, www.davidzipper.com, and www.wesmarshall.org