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From what I read in some of the earlier reports on this, the car didn't have the ability to emergency brake in autonomous mode. It was disabled at that time, so

From what I read in some of the earlier reports on this, the car didn't have the ability to emergency brake in autonomous mode. It was disabled at that time, so it could only brake in regular traffic, not for obstacles that appear suddenly.

mannykannot 7y ago
That is right - so now we have two major errors. The justification made for disabling the emergency braking - that it would interfere with data gathering - might appear reasonable at first sight, but it does not stand up to scrutiny, for if the emergency braking is triggered, the driving system has already made a mistake, and you already have the data on that malfunction.
- kjaftaedi 7y ago
  Yes, but accidental emergency breaking can cause just as bad of an accident as this, it all just depends on the scenario. They had hired a driver to sit behind the wheel to monitor the road and the car for exactly this reason. The driver they hired decided to watch a movie on their phone instead of paying attention to the road.
  - mannykannot 7y ago
    > Yes, but accidental emergency breaking can cause just as bad of an accident as this, it all just depends on the scenario. If Volvo's system is that dangerous, then it should not be on the road at all - but there is no evidence that it is, you are just making a speculative argument. > They had hired a driver to sit behind the wheel to monitor the road and the car for exactly this reason. That is no reason to disable a safety feature that would add safety in depth. > The driver they hired decided to watch a movie on their phone instead of paying attention to the road. That was a major error - a crime, in fact - but, unfortunately, also an entirely predictable scenario that cannot be dismissed on the grounds that dealing with it would make testing more difficult or expensive. So now we have three errors.

mannykannot 7y ago

That is right - so now we have two major errors. The justification made for disabling the emergency braking - that it would interfere with data gathering - might appear reasonable at first sight, but it does not stand up to scrutiny, for if the emergency braking is triggered, the driving system has already made a mistake, and you already have the data on that malfunction.

kjaftaedi 7y ago
Yes, but accidental emergency breaking can cause just as bad of an accident as this, it all just depends on the scenario. They had hired a driver to sit behind the wheel to monitor the road and the car for exactly this reason. The driver they hired decided to watch a movie on their phone instead of paying attention to the road.
- mannykannot 7y ago
  > Yes, but accidental emergency breaking can cause just as bad of an accident as this, it all just depends on the scenario. If Volvo's system is that dangerous, then it should not be on the road at all - but there is no evidence that it is, you are just making a speculative argument. > They had hired a driver to sit behind the wheel to monitor the road and the car for exactly this reason. That is no reason to disable a safety feature that would add safety in depth. > The driver they hired decided to watch a movie on their phone instead of paying attention to the road. That was a major error - a crime, in fact - but, unfortunately, also an entirely predictable scenario that cannot be dismissed on the grounds that dealing with it would make testing more difficult or expensive. So now we have three errors.