5 ms·
The more I think about it, the more I think that there should be an outward signal, such as a special light, that a car is in self-driving mode. We already requ
by ProfessorLayton 9y ago
The more I think about it, the more I think that there should be an outward signal, such as a special light, that a car is in self-driving mode. We already require signals when changing lanes, reversing, and for electric cars to be audible at low speeds (starting in 2019). Those nearby shouldn’t have to guess if a car is under computer control.
- SheinhardtWigCo 9y agoWhat do you think human drivers should do differently when driving near a car that is under computer control?
- nol13 9y agonot bother honking
- sjwright 9y agoAggressively cut in whenever they want with impunity and zero consequences? Self driving cars will always avoid obstacles where possible and never suffer road rage. The only thing that keeps a check on the impulses of the most aggressive human drivers is the unpredictability of other human drivers.
- uniformlyrandom 9y agoJust do not do this if you drive a fire truck, obviously.
- sjwright 9y agoHa ha, except a Model S on AutoPilot isn't really being driven by the computer, it's just automating a greater portion of the tasks performed by a human driver.
- sjwright 9y agoThe equally interesting question is what you think computer drivers should do differently when driving near a car that is under computer control. For example, if your computer control car knows that the car behind is also computer controlled, it could be more aggressive on the brakes to avoid a forward collision without causing a rear collision.
- greglindahl 9y agoLots of cars have automatic braking these days, and I bet exactly zero of them care about the car behind them.
- sjwright 9y agoCorrect, that's the situation today. Tomorrow, the situation might be that a computer controlled car could see that the car behind is tailgating and the car in the next lane is computer controlled — then determine the safest action would be to swerve into the next lane rather than brake suddenly...
- greglindahl 9y agoThat's getting into trolley problem territory. I'd prefer that my car not do crazy shit.
- sjwright 9y agoThere's no way to avoid the trolley problem as long as you're developing self-driving cars. You can wilfully ignore the trolley problem and let the algorithm do whatever it does, but that doesn't make it go away. And I would dispute that emergency braking suddenly while being tailgated is less "crazy shit" than swerving into the next lane where your presence will, with an exceptional degree of confidence, be immediately detected and compensated for. To clarify, the scenario in my mind is one that would be bold but not dangerous; something a good human driver might do with 360° situational awareness. In this instance it could be the difference between swerving to miss an obstacle or a multiple-car collision — even if your self driving car can stop in time, the tailgater is likely to slam into you, which in turn slams you into the obstacle. Or to change the situation a bit, if the "tailgating" car happened to be a self driving car with an aggressive profile, that could swing the decision back towards braking. Point is, knowing that a car is being driven by a computer can aid decisions made by other cars.
- taneq 9y agoSelf-driving mine trucks have indicator lights for just this reason. Green indicates the truck is under the control of a human driver, flashing orange indicates the truck is under automatic control, and flashing red indicates the truck has a fault and will not move.
- therein 9y agoI have been thinking about this more and more on my commute every day. Commuting up and down US101, I see so many Tesla's driving on the left lane, setting their autopilot to 65mph, just blocking traffic. There needs to be a visible indicator on the outside. By the way, one can speculate there are interesting ways to trigger beeps inside these Teslas coasting on the left lane.
- greglindahl 9y agoHuh. I never see Teslas going the speed limit in the HOV lane on 101.
- SheinhardtWigCo 9y agoJust driving on Autopilot at the speed of traffic but at a safe stopping distance is enough to prompt a minority of assholes to aggressively tailgate and then pass and insert themselves into that empty space in front. Happens most days.
- greglindahl 9y agoYes, that's how adjustable cruise control works in many cars that have it.
- therein 9y agoThe reason is often because what you think is the speed of the traffic is actually the speed of the asshole in front of you that's going much slower than he could on a congested route. It doesn't take a single car to reduce the speed of a lane. It takes exactly two. One to slow it down, and the other one to stop the others from letting the guy in the front know that he is going too slow.
- SheinhardtWigCo 9y agoI’m aware what speed of traffic means. The actual reason for the phenomenon I described is that there are a lot of hyper-aggressive low-skilled drivers out there. Note that “skill” in this context means driving in a way that optimizes for keeping yourself and your fellow commuters alive so we can all go home to our families; not an ability to weave through traffic and teach slow drivers a thing or two about blocking lanes. Please drive safely.