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> The vehicle and the test driver "believed the bus would slow or allow the Google (autonomous vehicle) to continue." Clearly the algorithm does not take into
by mattzito 11y ago
> The vehicle and the test driver "believed the bus would slow or allow the Google (autonomous vehicle) to continue."
Clearly the algorithm does not take into account the classic attitudes of bus drivers.
- junto 11y agoEven more lucky it wasn't a BMW. Here in Europe the attitudes of BMW drivers are not highly regarded.
- gradi3nt 11y agoHere in the US we stand with you on the issue of BMW drivers.
- johansch 11y agoNot even in Germany?
- chefkoch 11y agoDepends on the model / style and how old it is.
- johansch 11y agoI guess old BMW's get more cred, while with newer ones you swear "tax evader" under you breath as it overtakes you in the left lane?
- chefkoch 11y agoDepends on the model / style and how old it is.
- chefkoch 11y agoDepends on the model / style and how old it is.
- aluhut 11y agoThis is their lair. They are the worst here.
- johansch 11y agoWhat is the German ranking in terms of obnoxiousness like? E.g. based on BMW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Opel, <foreign invaders>?
- junto 11y agoPretty much that exact order.
- johansch 11y agoI would guess Mercedes owners would be more obnoxious than Audi owners though? :)
- lamontcg 11y agoNot around here... Lexus and Escalades beat out Mercedes. I haven't seen a lot of difference between BMWs and Audi drivers either.
- aluhut 11y agoMercedes are a special problem. Often driven by older male drivers who sometimes remember that their car can drive fast but not caring most of the time. Even while on the left lane.
- pgeorgi 11y agoI'd rank Mercedes higher. They even install a cross-hair for better targetting.
- thesimon 11y agoIt feels like BMW, Porsche, Audi and then the rest
- mfkp 11y agoNot just Europe - BMW drivers are the same around the world.
- mrec 11y agoOh yes. Even in Germany. When some nutcase whizzed past you on the autobahn doing 200kph, it was pretty much always a BMW.
- bsder 11y agoMy standard comment to a new BMW owner: "So, do you have to prove you are an asshole to buy a BMW, or do they force you to take a class after you buy one?"
- seanp2k2 11y agoThey should invite a bunch of Prius drivers to MV to "test" with the self-driving cars on the road with them "driving normally". I'm sure they'd get some great test data out of it and help prevent lots of future incidents :)
- elcapitan 11y agoIt's probably one of the interesting social outcomes of a mixed self-driving / human-driven traffic that all the assholes will have more opportunities to behave like assholes, because they will be able to rely on the programmed friendlyness of self-driving cars. Eventually, tuning that friendlyness factor will become the new car pimping.
- jws 11y agoEvery time an asshole recklessly endangers the occupants of a self driving car, the car will have recorded the entire event. They should send these to a central clearinghouse and after a certain threshold hand them over to the appropriate prosecutor for charging and conviction. We'll all be safer. If the asshole can't bring himself to drive civilly, eventually he'll lose his license on points and have to ride around in a self driving car!
- djrogers 11y agoYou essentially want to turn traffic enforcement over to a pervasive surveillance state? Yeah, not a good idea...
- mdorazio 11y agoNo, (s)he wants to turn traffic safety violation reporting over to crowd-sourcing. There is a large difference. I am in favor of the same thing myself since humans drivers prove every day (look at the number of preventable accidents on roads) that they should not be trusted with operating large motor vehicles, especially if alternatives exist in the way of autonomous vehicles. If driving behavior is accountable in the same way as, say, banking transactions, then that seems like a good thing.
- jws 11y agoATMs are good comparison. They are left unattended but photo document themselves and their environment. If you attack an ATM it will provide the evidence for a prosecutor to charge you.
- blktiger 11y agoThis is the most interesting part of this story to me. That the test driver believed the bus would let the vehicle continue indicates to me that the human driver would probably not have done any better than the automated car in this case.