3 ms·

I saw someone criticize self-driving cars by saying that if someone just covered a stop sign, the car wouldn't know to stop. This is different than the status q

I saw someone criticize self-driving cars by saying that if someone just covered a stop sign, the car wouldn't know to stop. This is different than the status quo how?

ceejayoz 8y ago
The status quo is "a large number of drivers will recognize that the intersection should probably have one and at least exercise some caution". It should be able to program a self-driving car with a) a database of known intersections and their conditions as a fallback and b) to evaluate the conditions of an upcoming intersection for safety even without the requisite signage.
- fossuser 8y ago
  I'd suspect they do that already - based on what I've read they're not relying entirely on signage and the lidar is looking for potential hazards. I'd suspect it act similarly to a human in that situation. Maybe it'd run it if there's no one else around, but a human probably would too in that case.
  - mcny 8y ago
    I would think a self driving car would have access to Waze in almost real time.
- skinnymuch 8y ago
  Maybe a large number of drivers would know, but that’s pure guessing. Could be a larger number of drivers wouldn’t know.
  - ceejayoz 8y ago
    A while back, one of the four-way stops in our area got turned into a two-way stop. It took months for folks to stop treating it as a four-way, despite "new traffic pattern" signs. Another imperfect analogy is power outages and stop lights. For the most part, it doesn't result in full-speed collisions; instead, folks treat it as a stop sign. Self-driving cars are going to need a "huh, that doesn't look right..." system. Detecting missing/defaced/misleading signs should be a part of it.
    - ConceptJunkie 8y ago
      > instead, folks treat it as a stop sign. That's what you're supposed to do. In some cases, the traffic lights fail to a mode where one direction is blinking red, which is treated like a stop sign, and the other is blinking yellow, which is treated sort of like a yield sign (i.e., proceed, but with caution). I believe the law (and common sense) states that if the traffic light it out, you treat it like a 4-way stop sign intersection.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

I saw someone criticize self-driving cars by saying that if someone just covered a stop sign, the car wouldn't know to stop. This is different than the status quo how?

ceejayoz 8y ago

The status quo is "a large number of drivers will recognize that the intersection should probably have one and at least exercise some caution". It should be able to program a self-driving car with a) a database of known intersections and their conditions as a fallback and b) to evaluate the conditions of an upcoming intersection for safety even without the requisite signage.

fossuser 8y ago
I'd suspect they do that already - based on what I've read they're not relying entirely on signage and the lidar is looking for potential hazards. I'd suspect it act similarly to a human in that situation. Maybe it'd run it if there's no one else around, but a human probably would too in that case.
- mcny 8y ago
  I would think a self driving car would have access to Waze in almost real time.
skinnymuch 8y ago
Maybe a large number of drivers would know, but that’s pure guessing. Could be a larger number of drivers wouldn’t know.
- ceejayoz 8y ago
  A while back, one of the four-way stops in our area got turned into a two-way stop. It took months for folks to stop treating it as a four-way, despite "new traffic pattern" signs. Another imperfect analogy is power outages and stop lights. For the most part, it doesn't result in full-speed collisions; instead, folks treat it as a stop sign. Self-driving cars are going to need a "huh, that doesn't look right..." system. Detecting missing/defaced/misleading signs should be a part of it.
  - ConceptJunkie 8y ago
    > instead, folks treat it as a stop sign. That's what you're supposed to do. In some cases, the traffic lights fail to a mode where one direction is blinking red, which is treated like a stop sign, and the other is blinking yellow, which is treated sort of like a yield sign (i.e., proceed, but with caution). I believe the law (and common sense) states that if the traffic light it out, you treat it like a 4-way stop sign intersection.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]