3 ms·

>That drone is what, half a pound? It seems like the biggest risk is it hitting a pedestrian or cyclist (of which I did not see any), and could result in perhap

by serf 6y ago

>That drone is what, half a pound? It seems like the biggest risk is it hitting a pedestrian or cyclist (of which I did not see any), and could result in perhaps a single person needing to go the hospital. What happens when a half pound drone that's going 15+ kph hits an oncoming car windshield going many times that speed? >hundred vehicles with one ton+ curb weights, driving at one another, piloted by what are most likely bored inattentive drivers. what happens when you distract those drives with an aerial nuisance while they're trying to cross a bridge that offers no positive outcomes if the vehicle vector is changed? Things don't have to be universally safe to point out a safety flaw with a specific variable. Driving cars isn't safe, but doing something unsafe while compounded with distractions and possible bogeys is even more unsafe.

mindslight 6y ago
> What happens when a half pound drone that's going 15+ kph hits an oncoming car windshield going many times that speed? My intuition says the drone would bounce off, being made of light material. In the worst case, it would crack the windshield and the driver would stop. > what happens when you distract those drives with an aerial nuisance Many people look at birds while driving with little notable effect. It feels like the distracting-traffic argument is really just a couching of the real gripe, which is more like "weird new thing bad". > Things don't have to be universally safe to point out a safety flaw with a specific variable Sure, but we can compare relative safety. It's a bit odd to pick on a slightly-unsafe activity due to its proximity to a much unsafer activity. In general anything involving an urban landscape is going to have traffic/buildings/infrastructure adjacent. And so if we go by a standard of possibly affecting those things, there would end up being no permission for anything new.

by serf 6y ago

mindslight 6y ago

> What happens when a half pound drone that's going 15+ kph hits an oncoming car windshield going many times that speed? My intuition says the drone would bounce off, being made of light material. In the worst case, it would crack the windshield and the driver would stop. > what happens when you distract those drives with an aerial nuisance Many people look at birds while driving with little notable effect. It feels like the distracting-traffic argument is really just a couching of the real gripe, which is more like "weird new thing bad". > Things don't have to be universally safe to point out a safety flaw with a specific variable Sure, but we can compare relative safety. It's a bit odd to pick on a slightly-unsafe activity due to its proximity to a much unsafer activity. In general anything involving an urban landscape is going to have traffic/buildings/infrastructure adjacent. And so if we go by a standard of possibly affecting those things, there would end up being no permission for anything new.