If only there we some other way to notice solid objects, instead of relying on the statistical analysis of video frame images relative to one another, over time

If only there we some other way to notice solid objects, instead of relying on the statistical analysis of video frame images relative to one another, over time, in real time. If only we could figure out how to detect solid objects, but alas, such a difficult problem. So hard to implement that no one should hold their breath, in hopeful anticipation that a carmaker might add solid object detection to their sensor array package, so that cars can do the most important thing everyone expect from them. But, you know, when you make a self driving car, hazard avoidance and collision detection actually turn up much lower on the list of priorities that you'd expect. (in driver's ed, we learned not to overdrive our headlights, to not drive so fast that our stopping distance began beyond our visual field of good lighting surrounded by darkness; meaning that should an object suddenly appear in the light cone as you approach it, the combination of your human reaction time, combined with the tire's capacity for friction against the road surface, combined against the total inertia of the car in motion should all remain in the cognitive focus of your situational awareness as you drive a car at night; without this, as a human, you are not a safe driver; and yet robots are judged according to different standards, even though, for them, it is always nightime, and the world is perpetually a cloudy environment shrouded in mysterious darkness; too bad that's not what sells cars)