5 ms·

In autonomous mode do they pull over properly if A. getting pulled over and B. emergency vehicles are whirring about doing their thing?

EdwardDiego 11y ago
Excellent question.
gcr 11y ago
I can't wait for a hacker to make a "Get-out-of-my-way" gun out of blinking lights that makes all the Google cars in front of her pull over. Maybe she could build it out of IR LEDs, so it's not obvious to humans. :)
- wpietri 11y ago
  Impersonating a police car is, unsurprisingly, already a crime: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_impersonation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_impersonation States have similar laws for other emergency vehicles. E.g.: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/28/00947.htm&Title=28&DocType=ARS http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/2...
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - anon4 11y ago
    Does this apply when you're not fooling any person? As in, you're not trying to impersonate a police officer per se, you're fooling the vehicle's police detection into assuming a police vehicle is coming.
    - DrScump 11y ago
      It's illegal to have a forward-facing red light at all (for one example)... even if it's not turned on.
    - hinoka 11y ago
      > you're fooling the vehicle's police detection Sounds like impersonation to me. The "person" in impersonation refers to the entity being imitated, not the entity being deceived.
      - anon4 11y ago
        Yeah, but is a couple of infrared lights enough to be considered "police"? What if I yell "VWEEEWOOOWEEEOOO" and someone mistakes that for a legitimate police siren -- am I still impersonating police, or is that person incredibly stupid?
        DanBC 11y ago
        intent matters. If you say "Here's some infra-red lights. They simulate enough of a police car for other cars to change their behaviours" you're not going to have a fun time in court.
        brazzledazzle 11y ago
        Why does everyone think that the entire law system is like tax code and finance laws? You (usually) can't just break a law because you found a technical loophole.
    - petepete 11y ago
      Or if you're impersonating another emergency vehicle, like an ambulance or fire engine.
Daneel_ 11y ago
Google cars pay attention to emergency services workers already - they talked about it in their TED talk earlier this year - link: https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_urmson_how_a_driverless_car_sees_the_road https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_urmson_how_a_driverless_car_... Skip to 10:00 for the police man halting the car, then waving it through. The whole video is worth a watch, to be honest. It's amazing how well they cater for edge cases.

EdwardDiego 11y ago

Excellent question.

gcr 11y ago

I can't wait for a hacker to make a "Get-out-of-my-way" gun out of blinking lights that makes all the Google cars in front of her pull over. Maybe she could build it out of IR LEDs, so it's not obvious to humans. :)

wpietri 11y ago
Impersonating a police car is, unsurprisingly, already a crime: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_impersonation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_impersonation States have similar laws for other emergency vehicles. E.g.: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/28/00947.htm&Title=28&DocType=ARS http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/2...
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- anon4 11y ago
  Does this apply when you're not fooling any person? As in, you're not trying to impersonate a police officer per se, you're fooling the vehicle's police detection into assuming a police vehicle is coming.
  - DrScump 11y ago
    It's illegal to have a forward-facing red light at all (for one example)... even if it's not turned on.
  - hinoka 11y ago
    > you're fooling the vehicle's police detection Sounds like impersonation to me. The "person" in impersonation refers to the entity being imitated, not the entity being deceived.
    - anon4 11y ago
      Yeah, but is a couple of infrared lights enough to be considered "police"? What if I yell "VWEEEWOOOWEEEOOO" and someone mistakes that for a legitimate police siren -- am I still impersonating police, or is that person incredibly stupid?
      - DanBC 11y ago
        intent matters. If you say "Here's some infra-red lights. They simulate enough of a police car for other cars to change their behaviours" you're not going to have a fun time in court.
        brazzledazzle 11y ago
        Why does everyone think that the entire law system is like tax code and finance laws? You (usually) can't just break a law because you found a technical loophole.
  - petepete 11y ago
    Or if you're impersonating another emergency vehicle, like an ambulance or fire engine.

Daneel_ 11y ago

Google cars pay attention to emergency services workers already - they talked about it in their TED talk earlier this year - link: https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_urmson_how_a_driverless_car_sees_the_road https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_urmson_how_a_driverless_car_... Skip to 10:00 for the police man halting the car, then waving it through. The whole video is worth a watch, to be honest. It's amazing how well they cater for edge cases.