4 ms·

But did it even engage the brakes? I wouldn't be shocked if it could not stop fully, but for it to not even attempt to stop is very troubling.

neolefty 8y ago
Yes, in the video it clearly and immediately brakes, and comes to a stop before hitting a second dummy car directly in front of the first.
- GreaterFool 8y ago
  So is the presumption that the human driver would do better?
  - albertgoeswoof 8y ago
    the car in front did better...
    - lutorm 8y ago
      The car in front also had unobstructed vision. If you tailgate a car that blocks your view ahead, a human driver is just as susceptible to being surprised like this.
    - ovao 8y ago
      The driver in front also knew about the stationary ‘car’ well ahead of time and was instructed to avoid it by merging into another lane. An actual human driver in a real scenario may perform better than the Tesla, as well as the Tesla or worse than the Tesla — it just depends.
      - GreaterFool 8y ago
        I'd argue that the car in front is at fault changing lanes at last possible second. This may or may not leave the drivers behind enough time to follow suit. Clearly this is a manufactured situation but in order to draw conclusions I'd like to see tests when unsuspecting human driers follows the leading car. I re-watched the video and it really doesn't look like the Tesla is breaking. The video says "unable to break in time". This to me sounds misleading. It is not clear whether Tesla tried to break but the distance was too short or it didn't attempt to break. Which leads me to conclude there's an agenda here.
        ovao 8y ago
        It can't be deduced from the footage alone whether the Model S is braking or not, but it's clear that it decelerates and stops after it impacts the dummy car. In the U.S. at least, it's highly unlikely that the driver in front would be found legally at fault in a similar accident. In most cases of rear-end collisions, the driver who impacts the rear of the car will be found at fault.
      - nmeofthestate 8y ago
        Tesla's algorithm is "try to slow down, but nevertheless plow into stuff if that doesn't work". It is demonstrably worse than the human algorithm of "slow down, but also steer to avoid obstacles". I can't see how you can objectively say they're equally good.
        JoeAltmaier 8y ago
        Do we want a car deciding whether to leave the lane? Leave the road? It could do more harm than good. We'll have to decide this, soon. By law hopefully - some standards for auto-drive and what it's allowed to do. Because if we don't, software will have to code up the 'trolly car problem' solution, starting now. Hit the school bus ahead? or the guy walking beside the road? or the brick wall (and kill its passenger)? There's no good (universally defendable) solution.

neolefty 8y ago

Yes, in the video it clearly and immediately brakes, and comes to a stop before hitting a second dummy car directly in front of the first.

GreaterFool 8y ago
So is the presumption that the human driver would do better?
- albertgoeswoof 8y ago
  the car in front did better...
  - lutorm 8y ago
    The car in front also had unobstructed vision. If you tailgate a car that blocks your view ahead, a human driver is just as susceptible to being surprised like this.
  - ovao 8y ago
    The driver in front also knew about the stationary ‘car’ well ahead of time and was instructed to avoid it by merging into another lane. An actual human driver in a real scenario may perform better than the Tesla, as well as the Tesla or worse than the Tesla — it just depends.
    - GreaterFool 8y ago
      I'd argue that the car in front is at fault changing lanes at last possible second. This may or may not leave the drivers behind enough time to follow suit. Clearly this is a manufactured situation but in order to draw conclusions I'd like to see tests when unsuspecting human driers follows the leading car. I re-watched the video and it really doesn't look like the Tesla is breaking. The video says "unable to break in time". This to me sounds misleading. It is not clear whether Tesla tried to break but the distance was too short or it didn't attempt to break. Which leads me to conclude there's an agenda here.
      - ovao 8y ago
        It can't be deduced from the footage alone whether the Model S is braking or not, but it's clear that it decelerates and stops after it impacts the dummy car. In the U.S. at least, it's highly unlikely that the driver in front would be found legally at fault in a similar accident. In most cases of rear-end collisions, the driver who impacts the rear of the car will be found at fault.
    - nmeofthestate 8y ago
      Tesla's algorithm is "try to slow down, but nevertheless plow into stuff if that doesn't work". It is demonstrably worse than the human algorithm of "slow down, but also steer to avoid obstacles". I can't see how you can objectively say they're equally good.
      - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
        Do we want a car deciding whether to leave the lane? Leave the road? It could do more harm than good. We'll have to decide this, soon. By law hopefully - some standards for auto-drive and what it's allowed to do. Because if we don't, software will have to code up the 'trolly car problem' solution, starting now. Hit the school bus ahead? or the guy walking beside the road? or the brick wall (and kill its passenger)? There's no good (universally defendable) solution.