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Could a human have reacted fast enough to stop for someone jumping out in front of them? If the person jumped out so fast that nobody could have possibly react

Could a human have reacted fast enough to stop for someone jumping out in front of them? If the person jumped out so fast that nobody could have possibly reacted in time, then it's not a stain on the technology- even with an instantaneous application of brakes, a car still takes a while to come to a stop. If the human jumped out ten seconds earlier and was waving her hands for help, then it's an issue. "the whole point of self-driving cars is that they can react to unexpected circumstances much more quickly than a human" This statement isn't really true. Do you think Uber is investing in this because it makes their passengers safer? No, they are pretty much immune to any car crashes with a human driver, the risk and insurance hit is assumed by the driver. They are doing this to save money. They don't have to pay a driver for each trip. The safety aspect is just a perk, but Uber will be pushing this full force as long as the self-driving cars are good enough. I'm more concerned that Uber will "lose" the video evidence showing what kind of situation it was, and we'll never be able to know if a human would have had ample time to react.

pm24601 9y ago
The bicyclist did not "suddenly" jump out in front. The Uber car did not sense the bicyclist.
- olympus 9y ago
  Video says bicyclist, written article says pedestrian. Video says they don't know if a person was behind the wheel, written article says there was a person behind the wheel. There's enough discrepancy here that I'm not sure what happened until we see the onboard data (unlikely to be released to the public) or a statement from a trusted public official like the Tempe police chief.
  - yohui 9y ago
    Police have clarified that the victim was walking her bike across the street: https://twitter.com/AngieKoehle/status/975824484409077760 https://twitter.com/AngieKoehle/status/975824484409077760
mtgx 9y ago
I've been saying this from the beginning: it's not enough for self-driving cars to be "better than the average driver". They need to be at least 10x better than the best drivers. I find it crazy that so many people think it is. First off, by definition like 49% of the drivers are technically better than the "average driver". Second, just like with "human-like translation" from machines, errors made by machines tend to be very different than errors made by humans. Perhaps self-driving cars can never cause a "drunken accident", but they could cause accidents that would almost never happen with most drivers. Third, and perhaps the most important to hear by fans of this "better than average driver" idea, is that self-driving cars are not going to take off if they "only" kill almost as many people as humans do. If you want self-driving cars to be successful then you should be demanding from the carmakers to make these systems flawless.
- statr123 9y ago
  Median* Average means something else, technically.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - fwip 9y ago
    Median is a type of average, as is Mean, as is Mode.
    - Dylan16807 9y ago
      Would you really use mode to calculate "average"? Ever? I'd have half a mind to slap someone doing that. And I strongly doubt "average [X]er" would be interpreted as a median by most people. (Except when median and mean overlap)
      - fwip 9y ago
        Context is important. The quote is "by definition like 49% of the drivers are technically better than the "average driver"." It's obvious to anyone who's not pedantic that they're referring to the median. As for an example of a mode average: "The average participant's favorite polygon was a triangle."

pm24601 9y ago

The bicyclist did not "suddenly" jump out in front. The Uber car did not sense the bicyclist.

olympus 9y ago
Video says bicyclist, written article says pedestrian. Video says they don't know if a person was behind the wheel, written article says there was a person behind the wheel. There's enough discrepancy here that I'm not sure what happened until we see the onboard data (unlikely to be released to the public) or a statement from a trusted public official like the Tempe police chief.
- yohui 9y ago
  Police have clarified that the victim was walking her bike across the street: https://twitter.com/AngieKoehle/status/975824484409077760 https://twitter.com/AngieKoehle/status/975824484409077760

mtgx 9y ago

I've been saying this from the beginning: it's not enough for self-driving cars to be "better than the average driver". They need to be at least 10x better than the best drivers. I find it crazy that so many people think it is. First off, by definition like 49% of the drivers are technically better than the "average driver". Second, just like with "human-like translation" from machines, errors made by machines tend to be very different than errors made by humans. Perhaps self-driving cars can never cause a "drunken accident", but they could cause accidents that would almost never happen with most drivers. Third, and perhaps the most important to hear by fans of this "better than average driver" idea, is that self-driving cars are not going to take off if they "only" kill almost as many people as humans do. If you want self-driving cars to be successful then you should be demanding from the carmakers to make these systems flawless.

statr123 9y ago
Median* Average means something else, technically.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- fwip 9y ago
  Median is a type of average, as is Mean, as is Mode.
  - Dylan16807 9y ago
    Would you really use mode to calculate "average"? Ever? I'd have half a mind to slap someone doing that. And I strongly doubt "average [X]er" would be interpreted as a median by most people. (Except when median and mean overlap)
    - fwip 9y ago
      Context is important. The quote is "by definition like 49% of the drivers are technically better than the "average driver"." It's obvious to anyone who's not pedantic that they're referring to the median. As for an example of a mode average: "The average participant's favorite polygon was a triangle."