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The bike probably had a reflector on its pedals. I would be very interested to learn whether or not the car's autonomous system identified a bicycle at any poi
by daveevad 9y ago
The bike probably had a reflector on its pedals.
I would be very interested to learn whether or not the car's autonomous system identified a bicycle at any point prior to the collision.
- Scoundreller 9y agoUsually other reflectors are required when riding at night. But this was a pedestrian, not a cyclist. Personally, while riding at night, I look like a Christmas tree. $10 on EBay goes far these days in the reflective tape and bike light department:
- zip1234 9y agoIn some places (UK for example) you need to have lights on your bike as well--not just reflectors.
- Piskvorrr 9y agoIf everyone followed the law, this wouldn't have happened for a multitude of reasons. Alas, here we are.
- MertsA 9y agoWell it was a pedestrian but they were walking their bike across the road. It's not like the software should make a distinction between a cyclist in the way and a bicycle with no rider in the way.
- brokenmachine 9y agoThe car likely didn't identify an obstacle at all, let alone a bicycle, as it didn't apply the brakes.
- Cthulhu_ 9y agoWhich is weird, because regardless of reflectors, it should show up on IR and lidar imaging.
- LoSboccacc 9y agoexactly this. what's the response time of software? it ought to be close to zero and significantly faster than human's. let's say it's a generous 0.5s - no brakes where applied at all, and even with the crappy darkened video we got (place isn't that dark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XOVxSCG8u0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XOVxSCG8u0 ) the pedestrian was in view for 2 to 3 seconds. car didn't see it at all even in those last moments.
- WillPostForFood 9y agoIt was a side impact, so pedal reflectors aren’t going to be visible.
- Piskvorrr 9y agoWheel spoke reflectors ought to have been - from what I've seen in the video, there were none (they're surprisingly bright at night).
- kazinator 9y agoIndeed, it's hard to find pedals without them. Even ones that cost $10 a pair have reflectors. Unfortunately, pedal reflectors are ineffective when the bicycle's path of travel is perpendicular to the light source. The video doesn't reveal evidence of other reflectors, such as the common spoke-mounted ones whose purpose it is to highlight a bicycle traveling crosswise. For a moment, the bicycle is clearly illuminated by the headlights; I don't see any spots of light on the wheels or elsewhere.
- Someone 9y agoFor a side view, the reflectors on the tires (visible at the end of the video) are way better indicators of “watch out! Bicycle” than those reflectors.
- Piskvorrr 9y agoSee this video for a comparison of visibility (not in English, but that's immaterial - set speed to 2x ;)): starting with a "bike ninja" and going all the way to "Christmas tree" https://youtu.be/oAFQ2pAnMFA?t=1m0s https://youtu.be/oAFQ2pAnMFA?t=1m0s
- codedokode 9y agoThis video looks too dark, as if the camera had not enough sensivity.
- Piskvorrr 9y agoIt's from 2011, there's been a lot of improvement in consumer-grade cameras since. Even so, it fits my perception IRL: even a small reflector is orders of magnitude better than no reflector, and adding multiple (esp. covering 360 viewing angles) makes you stand out at night; same goes for pedestrians.
- tirant 9y agoWhen travelling perpendicular to the car, bike pedal reflectors are not visible. What is surprising is that the bike didn't seem to have Tire reflectors like these: https://www.wired.com/2011/11/fiks-reflective-rim-strips-for-bikes/ https://www.wired.com/2011/11/fiks-reflective-rim-strips-for... They are mandatory in lots of countries, to the point that it's impossible to buy tires without them. All brands come with them.
- TomMarius 9y agoI have literally never seen that. Wow, that's a good idea!