I'm clearly doing it wrong. In my case it's more like "3) hope your child goes to bed at some point" =)

When we moved to the US from the UK, my dad commented on the number of Traffic Lights everywhere instead of roundabouts. His comment was something to the effect of "the guy that invented traffic lights must have made a fortune and split it with the people planning the roads".

I see it all over the place in every state I've lived in, places where a bad traffic intersection could have been made smoother with a simple roundabout. As the years pass by they rebuild the intersections again and again, and always trying different ways of setting up the lights, or adding turning lanes, or removing them. Never do they try a new roundabout. In fact the only ones I can think of are ones that have been there for years and years, and even they seem fewer and fewer. =(

The trick is not to make slower drivers, the trick is to make SAFER drivers. Slower drivers are not always safer drivers.

1) Set accurate speed limits so people will actually follow them. It is ridiculous that "following traffic" means having to break the law.

2) Mandate *better* and *harder* driver license tests. In the US it is all too easy for someone to get a driving license with little or no training. (seriously; check out this test: "Drive in a straight line, drive backwards in a straight line, parallel park, do a 3 point U-turn", and the kicker is, many states only require you to do TWO of the above. And if you fail the test, you can pay the fee and take it again, and in the mean time despite failing, you're allowed to continue driving with your permit.

3) Have the police start enforcing SAFE driving concerns. Enforce laws about people driving in the wrong lane, driving while on the cell phone, driving with improper equipment. Yes, I know, speeding tickets are great revenue, but stop enforcing only the speeding laws, especially when you're not making anyone any safer you're just picking up revenue from some unlucky sob (or more likely these days lining the pockets of a traffic lawyer).

If the focus was on safety, we could raise speed limits and increase traffic flow and reduce congestion.

disclaimer: I catch a lot of crap for driving a "sporty" car, but I focus all my attention on safe driving. driving should be a cooperative adventure, not a competitive sport. Take all the a-holes and distracted drivers off the road and we could all enjoy our commute and weekend drives a lot more. =) Just telling people to slow down, or trying to find ways to force them to slow down won't really change anything, other than perhaps an increase in speeding tickets. =/

Even if you assume that braking recovers 100% of the same energy used to accelerate, you're still only breaking relatively little compared to how much you're accelerating or using energy to maintain speed.

I don't have Tesla, but I do have the car it's built on, it's a light weight sports car, and you find yourself barely ever braking. The handling is sufficiently impressive that you don't need to. Granted the Tesla weighs significantly more, but it's still going to be lighter than most cars, and you'll find yourself taking corners without braking as much.

My point is, the inevitable loss comes from the fact that you're using power more often than you're getting it back.

I thought it was obvious. Time Travel! Sure we only travel in one direction, but we travel. (cue xkcd comics...)