2 ms·

This restricts your choices in the US to cars sold before 1998 when air bags became mandatory. Air bags, anti-lock brakes, and stability control are all control

This restricts your choices in the US to cars sold before 1998 when air bags became mandatory. Air bags, anti-lock brakes, and stability control are all controlled by complex computer systems and absolutely could kill you. Electronic fuel injection and engine management are also complex computer controlled systems, but less obviously lethal. Out of curiosity, what do you drive now?

lewiscollard 7y ago
> Air bags, anti-lock brakes, and stability control are all controlled by complex computer systems and absolutely could kill you. They are not complex in the way I was thinking. Functioning airbags and anti-lock brakes have been around since the 1980s. Analog sensors react to inputs, sometimes send it to a computer, which performs the right actions based on those simple inputs. Traction control has been around for almost as long. I don't know for a fact that nobody has been killed by these simple systems malfunctioning, but I would be very surprised if anyone had. I'll take any of your book recommendations, in return for mine: "Normal Accidents" by Charles Perrow. My takeaway from that book is: once you get past a level of system complexity that no _single person_ can reason about, system accidents are inevitable. > Out of curiosity, what do you drive now? 1987 Mazda 323 GTX (4WD turbocharged hooligan edition of the 323/Familia). I am happy owning one of my dream cars :)
- davidgould 7y ago
  Airbags are not a simple system that just reacts to impacts. They have to categorize the impact and the occupants of the vehicle and decide which if any airbags to deploy and at what time. Getting this wrong absolutely has killed people. For example deploying a passenger airbag when the passenger is too small or out of position can be fatal. Failing to deploy the airbag because misjudging the position or size of the passenger or the nature of the crash can also be fatal. The systems to decide this are not at all simple and involve multiple accelerometers and and sensors throughout the car. Hang onto that 323, sounds like a fun car.
jellicle 7y ago
If Tesla starts triggering airbags in the faces of people who fall behind on their car payments, I won't buy those cars either.

lewiscollard 7y ago

> Air bags, anti-lock brakes, and stability control are all controlled by complex computer systems and absolutely could kill you. They are not complex in the way I was thinking. Functioning airbags and anti-lock brakes have been around since the 1980s. Analog sensors react to inputs, sometimes send it to a computer, which performs the right actions based on those simple inputs. Traction control has been around for almost as long. I don't know for a fact that nobody has been killed by these simple systems malfunctioning, but I would be very surprised if anyone had. I'll take any of your book recommendations, in return for mine: "Normal Accidents" by Charles Perrow. My takeaway from that book is: once you get past a level of system complexity that no _single person_ can reason about, system accidents are inevitable. > Out of curiosity, what do you drive now? 1987 Mazda 323 GTX (4WD turbocharged hooligan edition of the 323/Familia). I am happy owning one of my dream cars :)

davidgould 7y ago
Airbags are not a simple system that just reacts to impacts. They have to categorize the impact and the occupants of the vehicle and decide which if any airbags to deploy and at what time. Getting this wrong absolutely has killed people. For example deploying a passenger airbag when the passenger is too small or out of position can be fatal. Failing to deploy the airbag because misjudging the position or size of the passenger or the nature of the crash can also be fatal. The systems to decide this are not at all simple and involve multiple accelerometers and and sensors throughout the car. Hang onto that 323, sounds like a fun car.

jellicle 7y ago

If Tesla starts triggering airbags in the faces of people who fall behind on their car payments, I won't buy those cars either.